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Thirty-five Years of 

Luther Research 



By 

j! M. REU, D.D. 

Professor at Wartburg Seminary 

Dubuque, Iowa 



With 27 Illustrations 



CHICAGO, ILL. 

Wartburg Publishing House 
1917 



'<jpl& 



' ! 

PUBLISHER 

JUL ; T '28 




Luther in the year 1543. 
Engraved by F. W. Bollinger after a painting by Cranach. 



INTRODUCTION 

EXCEPT the small work of Boehmer, cast in popular 
form, there is no complete treatment in English 
of the many problems in the Life of Luther that have 
been raised and investigated by scholars since the Four 
Hundredth Anniversary of his Birth in 1883. Hence 
The Lutheran Church Review requested the brilliant 
source-scholar, Prof. M. Reu, D.D., of Wartburg Semi- 
nary, Dubuque, to prepare a Life of Luther in Recent 
Research, and published it in several special numbers. 
This work is so thoroughgoing, satisfactory, and impor- 
tant, and has been so enthusiastically received by readers, 
that the Joint Lutheran Committee on the Celebration 
of the Quadricentennial of the Reformation was moved 
to advise its separate publication. 

It is the most up-to-date, fresh, and scholarly presenta- 
tion of the subject in the English language, and will be 
of invaluable assistance to all Protestants who desire to 
gain an insight into the present Luther situation, and to 
become convinced of the justice of the Protestant cause. 

Theodore E. Schmauk, 
Chairman of the Joint Lutheran Quadricentennial 
Committee. 



FOREWORD 

THESE essays make no further pretensions than to 
afford a comprehensive survey of the immense 
amount of work done in the field of Luther research 
since 1883, and thus to serve as a reliable guide through 
the wealth of Luther literature for any one anxious to 
examine the whole or to subject this or that phase to 
intensive study. Since these essays were not to develop 
into a ponderous volume the author was ofttimes forced 
to content himself with the mere mention of certain 
studies instead of detailing their results and outlining 
the reasons for the same. The chapters : Luther and 
the Scriptures, Luther and the German Language, and 
Luther and England, have not appeared in the Lutheran 
Church Review, but have been written especially for the 
book-edition; and the chapter, "Rome's Procedure 
Against Luther," is much enlarged, and many minor 
additions have taken place. 

After the plan for this work had already been sketched 
and certain sections finished the splendid essay by 
Kawerau, "Fuenfundzwanzig Jahre Lutherforschung," 
published in "Theologische Studien und Kritiken," 1908, 
came under the author's notice. The occasional use of 
this is herewith gratefully acknowledged. 

Though it is a fundamental principle of all scientific 
work, not to quote anything which has not been person- 
ally examined, the wealth of the literary material in 
question and the remoteness of the author's place of resi- 
dence from many of the literary treasures, precluded the 



Foreword 

possibility of applying this principle in each and every 
instance, a fact which is very much regretted. For those 
who wish to continue further research the remark will 
not come amiss that the University of Chicago possesses 
a large part of the literature here mentioned, and that its 
library includes a splendid collection of German theo- 
logical magazines. 

That these essays are here presented in readable 
English is due to the labors of the Revs. E. Groth of 
Casselton, N. D., and Emil H. Rausch of Waverly, Iowa, 
who kindly furnished the English copy. 

Dubuque, Iowa, March, 1917. M. Reu. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I. Factors Which Brought About a New Period in Luther 

Research I 

II. Fields in Which New Material Was Discovered 12 

III. New Editions of Luther's Works 27 

IV. Researches on Particular Phases of the Life and The- 

ology of Luther 36 

— 1. Luther's Youth 36 

2. Luther at the University 38 

3. Luther Enters the Monastery 40 

4. Luther's Journey to Rome 44 

5. Luther Made a Doctor of Divinity 47 

6. Luther's Theological Development from 1512 to 

1517 ." 48 

- 7. Luther and Indulgences 53 

8. Luther's Ninety-five Theses 56 

9. Rome's Procedure Against Luther, 1517 to 1520 58 

10. A Few Points of Luther's Theology, 1517 to 

1520 65 

11. The Diet at Worms 66 

12. Luther on the Wartburg 71 

13. Luther and the Scriptures 14 

14. Luther and the German Language 78 

15. Luther's Return to Wittenberg 88 

16. Luther's Efforts to Build Up Evangelical Con- 

gregations 88 

17. The Years of Separation 93 

18. Luther's Marriage, Home, and Health 96 



Contents 

PAGE 

19. Luther Introduces the Rite of Ordination, 1535 97 

20. Luther and the Wittenberg Concord, 1536 100 

21. Luther and England 101 

22. Luther and the Smalcald Articles, 1537 104 

23. Luther and Agricola's Antinomism 105 

24. Luther and Philip's Bigamy, 1539 106 

25. Luther and the Revision of the Bible, 1531 to 

1541 107 

26. The Last Years of Luther's Life Work 108 

27. Auxiliary Literature in 

V. Important Luther Biographies , 113 

Notes 118 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Between 
Pages 

1. Luther in the year 1543. Frontispiece 

2. Luther, the Augustinian 4 — 5 

3. Luther in the year 1521 6—7 

4. Luther as 'Junker Joerg', December, 1521 10 — 11 

5. Luther as 'Junker Joerg', 1522 18—19 

6. Luther in the year 1523 22—23 

7. Luther in the year 1525 26—27 

8. Luther in the year 1526 34—35 

9. Luther in the year 1533 38—39 

10. Luther in the year 1535 42—43 

11. Luther in the year 1542 50—51 

12. Luther in his later years 54 — 55 

13. The old Luther 58—59 

14. Letter of indulgence for the benefit of the St. Peter's 
Church at Rome. With seal attached 66 — 67 

15. Title page of the book 'Von der babylonischen Ge- 
fangenschaft der Kirche', 1521 70 — 71 

16. Title page of the book 'Von der Freiheit eines 
Christenmenschen', 1520 86 — 87 

17. Bull against the errors of Martin Luther and his 
followers 90—91 

18. Psalm 1. Illustration from the second German 

Bible 98—99 

19. Page of the Septemberbible of 1522 102—103 

20. Facsimile of a page of the New Testament printed 

at Augsburg by Hans Schoensperger, 1523 110 — 111 

21. Decoration at the end of the second part of Luther's 

Old Testament 118—119 

22. Title page of Luther's first edition of the entire 

Bible 126—127 

23. Title page of the first evangelical hymn book 134 — 135 

24. Catechism-tablet in Low-German, 1529 138 — 139 

25. Two pages from the third Wittenberg book edition 

of the Small Catechism, 1529 142—143 

26. Title page of Luther's Small Catechism and title 

page to the Ten Commandments 146 — 147 

27. Title page of the first edition of Luther's Large 
Catechism, Wittenberg, 1529 154—155 



THIRTY -FIVE YEARS OF 
LUTHER RESEARCH 



I. FACTORS WHICH BROUGHT ABOUT A 
NEW PERIOD IN LUTHER RESEARCH 

In connection with the preparation for the celebration 
of the four hundredth anniversary of Luther's birth there 
began in the early eighties a period of research into the 
life of the great reformer which continues even today. 
In point of thoroughness, unflagging zeal, comprehen- 
sive and scientific character, this period has outdistanced 
every previous effort in the same direction. 

This can hardly be explained by the fact that Lutheran 
theology and learning possesses an inherent instinct to 
investigate, an instinct that may lie dormant at times, 
only ever to be revived to greater action. A revival of 
this nature generally responds either to the intensifica- 
tion of the Christian life or to external conditions. The 
first can hardly be assumed at that time, and as for the 
second, it is just these external conditions that we have 
to consider. Even the anniversary of Luther's birth 
and the preparation for the coming jubilee of 191 7 do 
not fully explain it. Otherwise the research into the life 
of Luther would have been marked by a similar intensity 
during the period from 1783 to 181 7. We shall hardly 
go amiss if we assume that there were primarily two 
factors, working hand in hand, which made possible this 
period and gave it its singular character. 
I 



2 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

In the first place, entirely new methods and principles 
of research had been established in the study of history. 
Historians were no longer content to develop the com- 
monly accepted data into ingenious treaties with special 
reference to their philosophical aspect, according to the 
ideas of Hegel and others. Instead, they sought to come 
nearer to the truth of things. Patiently and minutely they 
examined all authentic sources that came into considera- 
tion, seeking to establish the factors and conditions that 
brought about the results. And in this way, piece by 
piece, they resurrected the happenings of the past and 
their causes, without burdening them with additions of 
their own. It was the influence of Ranke's school, with its 
analogue in the Oxford school of England, which origi- 
nated between 1870 and 1875, and whose leaders, Stubbs 
and Creighton, were dependent in no small measure on 
Ranke, that entirely revised the study of history. 1 The 
librarian of the old order jealously and Argus-eyed guard- 
ing his treasures that no one might so much as glance at 
them, gave way to the librarian of the new order. Not 
only did the governments gradually grant free access to 
the written treasures of the past, but, at least in Germany, 
their use was made so easy that today there are no old 
sources not available for research. In Germany espe- 
cially, the government decreed that henceforth nothing 
in the libraries and archives should be destroyed, and 
these, too, since the Franco-Prussian war, were much 
more freely supplied with the necessary funds. More 
than that, in the town halls of the cities, as well as in the 
parsonages of the rural districts, the government aroused 
interest and sympathy for everything connected with the 
past, and qualified to help its understanding. It was 
inevitable, therefore, that this new mode of research 



Why New Period of Luther Research 3 

should also dominate the study of church and Reforma- 
tion history, that entirely new methods be created, 
hitherto hidden sources brought to light, and radically 
new goals set. 

This transplanting of the methods of Ranke's school 
into the field of church history, although already de- 
manded and applied, especially by Reuter in Breslau and 
Goettingen, and also by Kolde in Marburg and Erlangen, 2 
gained greater momentum since the beginning of the 
eighties. It was a stupendous step onward and not only 
forced the older church historians either to reform their 
methods or be dropped by the wayside, but also pos- 
sessed the added advantage, that church history gradually 
lost its isolated position, and instead of being regarded 
as an isolated sphere was looked upon as something the 
understanding of which is only complete when linked with 
the understanding of contemporaneous events in secular 
history. And here again it was Kolde who grasped this 
truth more clearly than any one else and helped it to vic- 
tory. 3 It was also Kolde who proved that church his- 
tory, even if placed within the range of secular history, 
does not lose its peculiar purpose and identity, nor that 
an impairment in any manner follows therefrom. 

The second factor was this : In 1877 there appeared 
the first volume of the voluminous work "Geschichte des 
deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters," 
by Johann Janssen, professor in the catholic gymnasium 
of Frankfurt on the Main, and already in 1886 the fifth 
volume of this history was finished. In Frankfurt his- 
torical interests had always been cultivated. It had been 
the seat of the "Monumenta Germanise Historica" before 
these were transplanted to Berlin. In this old imperial 
city the Rankean school had worked like a leaven among 



4 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

the students of history. Through the Protestant city 
librarian, J. F. Boehmer, a very able man in historical 
research work, Janssen was drawn into this circle. 
Janssen then flung himself with the greatest of zeal upon 
the deeper study of the written and printed sources deal- 
ing with the last centuries of the Middle Ages, contained 
in the valuable archives of the city. Already in 1863 
there appeared, as the result of this study, "Frankfurt's 
Reichscorrespondenz nebst verwandten Aktenstuecken, 
1 376-1 5 19." Although the efficient co-operation of a 
catholic historian in the effort to shed more light upon 
the last centuries of the Middle Ages was highly gratify- 
ing even to Protestants, yet the publication of his history 
of the German people, the first volume of which appeared 
in 1877, proved a blow aimed at the very heart of Prot- 
estantism. In this work Janssen had placed his extensive 
knowledge of the religious conditions of the end of the 
Middle Ages into the service or subservience of the proof 
that the church, art, and science enjoyed a period of 
flourishing growth in the era just preceding the Reforma- 
tion, only to be trampled to death under the roughshod 
feet of Luther and his followers. The volumes follow- 
ing, with their characterization of Luther and the Refor- 
mation, follow the same methods and thoughts employed 
in the first volume. 

This work — its methods and main conclusions defended 
by the author in his "An meine Kritiker," Freiburg, 1882, 
and "Ein zweites Wort an meine Kritiker," Freiburg, 
1883 — achieved a very surprising and almost unparalleled 
success; the first volume, for instance, in three years 
was printed in the sixth edition, 1883 in the eighth; the 
second volume was printed in the seventh in 1882. Today 
the first four volumes, which have been continued and 




WSL SVAL A\EMTIS 'JIMiVLACHRV LVTHEBW 
•XT WLTV* CERA LVCAE OCCIDVOS 



Luther, the Augustinian. 

Copper engraving by L. Cranach. 



Why New Period of Luther Research 5 

edited by L. Pastor, have appeared in not less than twenty 
editions, not to speak of the different translations of the 
work. 4 The simple style, the seeming thoroughness and 
objectiveness, with which Janssen brings a wealth of 
proof from the sources for every, often even the most 
absurd statement, its apparently unbiased tendencies, its 
conclusions, startling for the Lutheran, but welcome to 
the Catholics, its introduction into a hitherto almost 
shamefully neglected but important and new field of 
research, all of this together with the malignant zeal, with 
which all Catholic circles spread broadcast this produc- 
tion, explain its great success. G. Bossert (in "Wuert- 
temberg und Janssen," Halle, 1884) wrote concerning it: 
"Spread broadcast within a few years in many thousand 
copies, this work has not only found zealous readers 
among the militant spirits in the younger generation of 
the Catholic clergy; but even Catholic laymen, tempera- 
mentally far cooler, studied it with a devotion, as if they 
had found in it the long-lost Gospel. Yes, strange to 
say, this work has found favor, even with Protestants. 
Many a Protestant, in the belief that Janssen is right, 
thinks that he must recast his judgment, and that not for 
the better, of the Reformation and the reformers. In 
the press and in public gatherings one continually meets 
with opinions of Protestants concerning the faith of their 
ancestors, its origin and its influence upon the life of the 
people, upon morals, art, and economic conditions, 
opinions all of which are echoes from Janssen. 

It can be readily understood, what an ascendency this 
handy reference book, with its smooth diction, its daz- 
zling knowledge of literature and its proud claim of agree- 
ing with the old sources, must have gained in the minds 
of the cultured classes of today, as long as they them- 



6 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

selves do not possess the opportunity for closer investi- 
gation." 5 

"The militant spirits among the younger generation," 
of whom mention is made here, diligently copied their 
master, although generally their writings were marked 
by a greater flagrancy and carelessness, so that between 
1880 and 1884 Germany was fairly deluged by more or 
less skillful libelous writings against Luther and the 
Reformation, until finally, in 1890, P. Majunke, priest 
and one-time editor of the Koelner Volkszeitung and of 
the Berlin Germania, reached the acme in absurdity and 
malice by pronouncing Luther a suicide. 6 What wonder, 
then, that men began to study the history of the Refor- 
mation, and of the life and works of Luther as never 
before ; that the old, as well as newly-established, results 
of learned research, were made accessible to the cultured 
as well as the common people in a far greater measure 
than ever before? Bossert, whom we quoted above, con- 
tinues : "The time demands that the history of the 
Reformation be given anew to the Protestant people of 
Germany, with the continual proof of the fallacies con- 
tained in Janssen's work." Already, in 1882, the 
"Verein fuer Reformationsgeschichte" was founded, 
which announced as its aim : "To make more accessible 
to the greater public the positive results of research con- 
cerning the origin of our Protestant Church, the per- 
sonalities and facts of the Reformation, and the influence 
they asserted on all the phases of the life of the people, 
so that through a direct introduction into the history of 
our Church the Protestant consciousness may be con- 
firmed and strengthened" (Par. 1 of the Statutes of the 
Society). Up to the present day, we have a series of 
more than one hundred and twenty numbers bearing the 



MARTINVS 




Luther in the year 1521. 
Copper engraving by L. Cranach, 



Why New Period of Luther Research J 

title, "Schriften des Vereins fuer Reformationsge- 
schichte," which have been exceptionally well introduced 
by Kolde's writing, "Luther und der Reichstag zu 
Worms, 1 521" (Halle, 1883). All of them deal directly 
with Luther, or with movements caused by his lifework. 

Janssen gave a real and unmistakable impetus to re- 
search work on Luther among men of learning. Pre- 
pared to work in a scientific manner by accepting Ranke's 
methods in the field of church history, they were forced 
by Janssen to begin. Added to this, Janssen's lifework 
not only was taken up by other Catholic theologians, con- 
tinued and its scope widened, 7 but a later book by Denifle, 
"Luther und Luthertum in der ersten Entwicklung 
quellenmaessig dargestellt" (1st vol. 1st ed. 1904; 2nd 
vol. ed. by A. M. Weiss, 1909), also raised new ques- 
tions and demanded a more thorough study, especially 
of the pre-Reformation theology. The latest Catholic 
work on Luther, by H. Grisar (Martin Luther, first vol- 
ume: Luther's Werden, second volume: Auf der Hoehe 
des Lebens, 191 1, third volume: Am Ende der Bahn, 
1912), had much less influence on Protestant research 
into the life of Luther. 

Subordinated to these two main factors, there are two 
further circumstances that were of material assistance. 
In the first place, Protestant theology was given the great 
book on Luther, by Julius Koestlin: "Martin Luther; 
Sein Leben und seine Schriften," in 1875, anQl m I ^3 
this work appeared in its second edition vastly improved, 
Koestlin did not belong to the Rankean school. He was 
not a church historian, but a systematician. He did not 
study the old sources in the manner of the historians of 
this school, when he began his work; and even later he 
rarely co-operated in the search for new material, that 



8 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

was being conducted in the archives. 8 With his inherent 
thoroughness, trustworthiness, and soberness he carefully 
examined all the printed material accessible to him, and 
in the spirit of true criticism and ripe judgment, pains- 
takingly considering and even presenting the leading 
thoughts of all the important writings of Luther, he 
molded the result of his investigations into a book, that 
in a measure never accomplished before afforded a thor- 
oughly trustworthy insight into the development of the 
life and thoughts of the reformer. With this a firm 
foundation was laid, upon which all further research 
could build. It even incited others to do special research 
in this or that direction. 

In the second place, just at the beginning of the period 
which we are about to discuss, the Protestant Church 
was blessed by God with a number of distinguished 
young investigators who were able to take up the work 
anew and carry it on to a successful conclusion. Among 
those who had busied themselves in the past two decades 
with thorough studies concerning Luther were Karl 
Knaake and Ludwig Enders, who were still in the height 
of their intellectual ability. As a candidate for the min- 
istry already, Knaake had entered upon this field of 
research with his short but pertinent writing, "Luther's 
Anteil an der Augsburger Confession," against Rueckert 
and Heppe (1863). Then he began to edit the works of 
Staupitz (the first volume and only one, because the book 
found no 'subscribers, appeared in 1867). Together 
with Franz von Soden, he published the important let- 
ter album of Christ. Scheurl of Nuernberg (1867 and 
1872). In his "Jahrbuecher de's deutschen Reichs und 
der deutschen Kirche im Zeitalter der Reformation" 
(1872), which expired in its first stages, he made accessi- 



Why New Period of Luther Research 9 

ble Scheurl's "Geschichtbuch der Christenheit von 151 1 
bis 1 521," also a number of documents pertaining to the 
Diet of Augsburg of 1 518. For his own particular 
studies he collected one of the greatest and most valuable 
collections of prints from the sixteenth century. In 1876 
there appeared in "Zeitschrift fuer lutherische Theologie 
und Kirche" a critical review of more than forty pages 
of Koestlin's "Martin Luther," in which Knaake proved 
himself the superior of Koestlin in the matter of detail. 
Enders, of Oberrad, near Frankfurt on the Main, since 
1882 was active with the revision of the Luther edition 
of Erlangen, and since the appearance of the new edi- 
tions of "Vermischte Predigten" (1877) had revealed a 
rare knowledge of the literature of this age, and in this 
edition he also published for the first time a large number 
of hitherto unknown sermons taken from a valuable 
manuscript at Wolfenbuettel. 

At this time other promising young men also entered 
the field. Most prominent among them was Theodor 
Kolde, who had been appointed lecturer in Marburg in 
1876, and had then followed a call to Erlangen in 1881. 
Barely twenty-four years of age, he erected a memorial 
to a maternal ancestor, the famous Saxon chancellor 
Brueck, in "Kanzler Brueck und seine Bedeutung fuer 
die Entwicklung der Reformation," in "Zeitschrift fuer 
historische Theologie" (1874); in 1876 he discussed 
Luther's position over against Council and Church until 
the Diet of Worms in a study bearing this title. Finally, 
in 1879 he established his reputation as a historian 
through the excellent writing, "Die deutsche Augustiner 
Kongregation und Johannes von Staupitz," a rare speci- 
men eruditionis, in which he strictly applied the methods 
of the Rankean school and in careful detail set forth 



io Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

many facts, hitherto entirely unknown. No less an au- 
thority than Kawerau as late as 1908 (Theologische 
Studien und Kritiken, 1908, p. 343) made the following 
comment on this work: "Kolde has been the first one 
to bring into the light of history the order to which 
Luther belonged, in view of its inner development as well 
as of its propaganda in Germany, in view of its theolog- 
ical tendencies as well as of its inner strifes. He taught 
us to understand a Proles and a Staupitz, he shed light 
upon the inner conflicts of the German congregation, 
which resulted in Luther's journey to Rome. With the 
aid of the old sources he made us understand the mon- 
astery life of which Luther was a part, and acquainted 
us with Luther's activities as vicar of his district. He 
pointed out to us the history of the disbanding of a great 
number of German Augustine monasteries, due to the 
influence of Luther's initiative." In 1881 Kolde followed 
his former writings with "Friederich der Weisse und die 
Anfange der Reformation;" at the same time preparing 
himself for greater things. 

Gustav Kawerau, now Probst, member of the higher 
consistory in Berlin, like Kolde, Silesian by birth, joined 
hands with Kolde in the common work. While still a 
pastor at Klenzig, he published in 1881 an able mono- 
graph on John Agricola, of Eisleben, Luther's well known 
pupil, who already, in 15 18, published Luther's sermons 
on Our Lord's Prayer (Lent, 1517). 9 In the next year 
already Kawerau followed up his previous writings with 
"Kasper Guettel, ein Lebensbild aus Luther's Freundes- 
kreis." The third, who must be mentioned in this con- 
nection was Theodor Brieger, died 191 5 at Leipzig, like 
Kolde, a pupil of Reuter, during the latter's period in 
Greifswald. Although his book, "Gasparo Contarini und 




Luther as 'Junker Joerg', December, 1521. 
Painting by L. Cranach. 



Why New Period of Luther Research n 

das Regensburger Konkordienwerk des Jahres 1541" 
(1870), did not touch the research work on Luther, he 
ranked first among the historians of the Reformation 
period. 

Another pupil of Reuter, afterward at Koenigsberg 
and then historian at Goettingen, P. Tschackert, was at 
this time assistant professer at Halle. G. Buchwald, who 
iater made a name for himself as the fortunate discoverer 
of many manuscipts concerning Luther, had already at 
this time betrayed his interest in the research work on 
Luther through his essay, "Luther und die Juden" 
(1881). Even Wilhelm Walther, of Rostock, at the 
present time known as one of the best authorities on 
Luther, at this time already revealed what field of en- 
deavors he was eventually to enter, for the theme "Luther 
und Rom," which since 1883 was so masterfully treated 
by him, had already received its first attention through his 
lengthy essay, "Die Fruechte der Roemischen Beichte" 
(reprinted in "W. Walther, Zur Wertung der Reforma- 
tion" 1909, pp. 14-75). 

Knaake, Enders, Kolde, Kawerau, Brieger, Tschackert, 
Buchwald, Walther, the constellation around Koestlin, 
constituted an able group of excellently trained historical 
investigators, fully qualified to investigate Luther's life 
and theology according to the principles of Ranke's 
school, successfully to cope with Janssen's caricatures, 
and thus to place before the eyes of the Protestant Church 
an undistorted, truthful picture of the great reformer. 



II. FIELDS IN WHICH NEW MATERIAL WAS 
DISCOVERED 

Thus with the year 1883 there began an industrious 
research in archives and libraries, confined not only to 
Germany, for old printed writings of Luther, and for 
such manuscripts that might shed light upon his life and 
work. Here also Kolde must first be mentioned. For, 
whereas, those who were fortunate enough to discover 
many relics of Luther by chance, as, for example, Buch- 
wald, or those who were aided in an extraordinary meas- 
ure by the State, or through the arrangement of libraries 
and archives meanwhile much improved, as, for exam- 
ple, Albrecht, Kolde undertook extended journeys at his 
own expense to collect material from the archives for a 
new biography of Luther. As a result of these journeys 
he introduced the public for the first time to many 
archives which were important in themselves, and in 
their relation to the research work on Luther. Then he 
published his discoveries in his "Analecta Lutherana" 
which appeared in 1883, and in which he not only pointed 
out new paths for further investigation, but also aroused 
widespread interest in it. 10 However, in this part of our 
essay we shall treat of a different thing. By means of a 
comprehensive survey, we shall concern ourselves with 
those phases of Luther's life and activities, concerning 
which new manuscripts have been discovered in the last 
thirty-five years. 

To be considered in the first place is such material 
which sheds light upon his religious and theological devel- 



New Material Discovered 13 

opment up until 1517, when he posted his ninety-five 
theses. It was of no small value, when Buchwald dis- 
covered various printed matter that had belonged to 
Luther in the library of the "Ratschule" at Zwickau, 
and which often contained comments written by Luther 
himself. Such comments were written on the margin 
of writings of Augustine, 1503, the Sententiae of Petrus 
Lombardus, 15 10-15 n, the sermons of Tauler, possibly 
1 516, the works of Anselm of Canterbury, and Tritheim 
(born 1462, died 1516), 1513-1516. Since 1893 these 
comments may be found in the ninth volume of the 
Weimar Luther edition (pp. 2-1 14). It was of greatest 
importance that Kawerau, by means of the Dresden 
Manuscript found by Franz Schnorr v. Carolsfeld, and 
too literally rendered in Seidemann's publication of 1876, 
and by means of the Wolfenbuettel manuscript, which 
Walch had already copied and published in an altogether 
deficient German translation, created a very trustworthy 
text of Luther's lectures in the monastery, 1513-1516, 
on the Psalms, "Dictata super Psalterium" (see third 
and fourth volumes of the Weimar edition). 

The same importance, however, cannot be attached to 
a copy of Luther's lecture on the Book of Judges from 
the year 15 16, which Buchwald found in Zwickau; 
although among other things this copy contains some 
excellent directions for the basis and aim of the truly 
evangelical sermon. Thus we read, for example : "Holy 
Scriptures alone are the criterion according to which 
everything must be weighed and evaluated whether it is 
right or wrong," or "Sinners can only be directed to 
Christ, for from sin we can only be freed by Christ;" 
or, "Pray to God incessantly, that we may have sanctified 
teachers who know the way of truth and who can preach 



14 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

us Christ and His Cross." In 1884 Buchwald published 
this lecture separately with an introduction by Koestlin. 
For the Weimar edition Kawerau supplied the 
text (Vol. IV, pp. 527-586). — Thanks are also due to 
Buchwald that a number of Luther's sermons, from 1514- 
15 17, hitherto unknown, found in copies at Zwickau, were 
brought to light. They are now to be found in the 
Weimar edition, fourth volume, p. 587 ff. 

The most important find, however, was made in 1899 
by John Ficker, of Strassburg, through the aid of his 
friend and pupil, Dr. H. Vopel, who worked in the 
Vatican Library at Rome, for he discovered in the 
"Palatina" 11 a manuscript containing Luther's com- 
mentary on Romans from 1515-1516. Entrusted by the 
Weimar Luther Commission with the publication of this, 
he found in a showcase of the Royal Library of Berlin 
Luther's original handwriting of this commentary, which 
had been kept here for a long time, and in some curious 
manner was never used by any one. 12 It was known of 
what importance the Epistle to the Romans had always 
been to Luther, and that especially Romans I, 16-17, 
played a large role in his pre-Reformation development, 
but as to details there was complete groping in the dark. 13 
Because the taking over of this newly found commentary 
into the Weimar edition necessitated further preliminary 
work, Ficker decided on an earlier edition, which ap- 
peared in 1908 with Dietrich (Th. Weicher) in Leipzig, 
as the first volume of "Anfaenge Reformatorischer Bibel- 
auslegung," to the great joy of all researchers on Luther. 
It comprised two parts, the first containing the "Glosse" 
(Glossae), the second the "S'cholien" (Scholiae). 
Through it we are not only well informed, in confirma- 
tion of what Oldecop, one of Luther's hearers at the time, 



New Material Discovered 15 

has told us (Koestlin-Kawerau I, p. 106), concerning 
the methods used in exegetical lectures of that time, but 
we watch the inner man of the Reformer develop in an 
astonishing manner. Especially in the "Scholien" we see 
the lightning flashes of the great themes of the following 
years much more frequently and distinctly than in the 
lectures on the Psalms. In the "Palatina" Ficker also 
found a copy of Luther's expositions on the Epistles to 
the Hebrews which Luther had treated in lectures (1517). 
At Elberfield there is also in the possession of Dr. Krafft 
a manuscript containing the expositions of Galatians, 
begun by Luther October 26, 15 16. This, however, is not 
identical with the printed commentary on Galatians of 
1 5 19. It is to be lamented that both of these are as yet 
not published, and that the exposition of the Epistle to 
Titus, which belongs in this collection, is not yet dis- 
covered. 14 

Concerning the methods used in these exegetical lectures of 
Luther we can say the following, thanks to these discoveries : 
Luther had the respective biblical book, which he was about to 
explain, printed as a separate book for himself and his audience, 
its lines widely separated and its margins very broad (the text 
used was that of the Vulgata). Between the lines and on the 
margin there was room for all kinds of comments. "These 
explanatory comments," says Ficker, "that briefly give the mean- 
ing of the words and the intention of the text are according to 
the medieval habit either interlinear or marginal. The comments 
placed above the individual words give in the shortest form the 
explanation of the word and connect in strictly logical fashion 
words and phrases. Whereas in the marginal explanation such 
notes are given that pertain to the strictly linguistic, more than 
that, to the sense and the context, to the ultimate proofs of the 
word-explanation : proofs, explanatory, circumscribed, religious 
and ethical, historical and literary notes and references to con- 
temporaneous history are found here." To be distinguished 
from these two kinds of "Glossen" are the "Scholien." These 



1 6 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

are longer and are attached to the explained texts co-ordinately. 
Ficker remarks : 'These 'Scholien' of the 'Magister' are, as a 
rule, not intended as explanations for the individual phrases; in 
arbitrary manner they are based on one passage and ignore the 
other, and they do not always adhere strictly to the sequences 
of the verses. Their object lies more in the representation of 
the main thoughts, and they are more examining and systematical. 
Here was — also in this respect Luther had his predecessors — the 
place for mental excursions, which he used at the same time for 
clear definitions of the basic problems of religion and for argu- 
ments with his opponents, or which, through the strength of his 
ethical energy, he used for practical explanations and uses of the 
scriptural truth. Sometimes they reach out far, and later on they 
concern themselves more and more with contemporaneous his- 
tory." Combining "Glossen" and "Scholien" Luther created the 
text which he gave in his lectures to the students. 

New material from the years following this period has 
made us better acquainted with seven fields of endeavor 
in Luther's work : his exegetical lectures, his own debates, 
his translation work of the Bible, his homiletical and 
catechetical endeavors, his large correspondence, and his 
table-talks. 

Of his exegetical lectures we now know the follow- 
ing, either for the first time or in their revised text: 
Operationes in Psalmos of 1519-1521 (Weim. ed. vol. 
V) ; the Lectures on Deuteronomy of 1523-1524 (Wei. 
ed. vol. 14) ; Praelectiones in Prophetas minores of 1524- 
1526 (Wei. ed. vol. 13) ; Lectures on Ecclesiastes of 1526 
(Wei. ed. vol. 20) ; Lectures on First Epistle of St. John 
of 1527 (Wei. ed. vol. 20) ; Declamationes in Genesin 
of 1527 (Weim. ed. vol. 24) ; Lectures on Epistles to 
Titus and Philemon of 1527 (Wei. ed. vol. 25) ; Lectures 
on Isaiah of 1527-1530 (Wei. ed. vols. 25; 31, 2) ; Lec- 
tures on First Epistle to Timothy of 1528 and Lectures 
on Song of Solomon of 1530 (Wei. ed. vol. 31, 3) ; Lee- 



New Material Discovered iy 

tures on Galatians of 1531 (Wei. ed. vol. 40, 1) ; Anno- 
tationes in aliquot capita Matthaei of 1536 (Wei. ed. vol. 
38) ; Lectures on Genesis of 1 534-1 545 (Wei. ed. vols. 
42-44). Then there are the expositions of single Psalms 
(for ex., no, 68, 118, 119, etc.), of different biblical pas- 
sages (for ex., Magnificat, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 53, Ezekiel 
38-39, Daniel 12, I Kings 7, etc.) and explanations of 
entire biblical books in the German language (I Peter of 
1523, II Peter and Jude of 1 523-1 524, Jonah and Hab- 
bakuk of 1526, Zechariah of 1527, etc.) which from the 
very first were meant for wider circles. The publication 
of these lectures, in as much as they were completed by 
means of the manuscripts, do not only enable us to form 
a more clean-cut conception of Luther in the midst of 
his academical activities, but they also put us in a posi- 
tion to compare that which he dictated to his audience 
with the form in which some of these lectures were pub- 
lished by his pupils. 

A hitherto almost unknown province in the work of 
Luther were the debates which he arranged while pro- 
fessor at Wittenberg. Kawerau writes on this as fol- 
lows : "We were acquainted with the theses which he 
prepared for these debates (for ex. Wei. ed. vol. 9), but 
concerning the course they took, we had only a fragment 
given us by Valentine Loescher and a complete copy of 
one debate from the year 1644, which Mollenhauer in 1880 
extracted from a manuscript at Dorpat." We are in- 
debted to the early deceased Paul Drews, 15 who by dint 
of tiresome investigations in manuscripts at Muenchen 
and Wolfenbuettel discovered much new material for 
this branch of Luther's activity, so that in 1895 he could 
give us copies of twenty- four debates from the years 
1535-45, among which was such an important one as the 



1 8 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

debate with Agricola and against the antinomistic doc- 
trine he advocated. 

Concerning Luther's homiletical work it can be said 
that, thanks especially to G. Buchwald's happy discov- 
eries, a huge mass of manuscripts consisting of copies 
of Luther's sermons has been piled up. Buchwald 16 al- 
ready in 1884 nas given us the sermons which Luther 
preached at Koburg in 1530, and in 1884-1885 the ser- 
mons from the year 1528, 1529 and 1537. Then in 1888 
eleven sermons from 1539, and finally in 1905 those from 
1 537-1 540, as Aurifaber had them, from a manuscript 
in Heidelberg. In the Weimar edition there are 22 large 
volumes filled solely with sermons, and in 10 further 
volumes sermons constitute more or less the bulk of 
their contents. It is wonderful how in these Luther 
gradually assumes gigantic proportions as a preacher. 
On the other hand, we may also say with Kawerau that 
the copies of these sermons, with their promiscuous use 
of the German and Latin — a defect due to the scribes — 
and with their abbreviations and unsatisfactory refer- 
ences, do not make the best of reading. One can also 
readily admit that the loss would not have been unsus- 
tainable, if some of these copies had perished. But, 
because most of the sermons, given into print by the 
hands of his pupils, show a much revised form, it is of 
great value that, through these copies, we approach very 
closely to the sermons just as Luther spoke them. They 
also contain many a helpful hint concerning contempo- 
raneous history and personal reminiscences of Luther. 

We are now also enabled to see more clearly into 
Luther's catechetical work. It was Buchwald again 
who made accessible a multitude of manuscripts pertain- 
ing to this field. It is of special note that he published 




Luther as 'Junker Joerg', 1522. 
A Woodcut by L. Cranach. 



New Material Discovered 19 

for the first time the three series of catechism-sermons 
of 1529, which constituted the foundation for what today 
we call the Larger Catechism. More particulars con- 
cerning this in the fourth part of this essay. 

We always knew what great care Luther devoted to 
the translation of the Bible, concerning not only the prep- 
aration of the first editions, but also the revisions of the 
later ones. But since Thiele and Pietsch have published 
Luther's own manuscripts of his translations, we clearly 
see his first rendition and all the corrections he made as a 
result of further reflection. The third volume of the 
"Deutsche Bibel," being a part of the Weimar Luther 
edition, even contains the minutes of what we would call 
the Committee on Bible Revision. 

Not a little was accomplished in these thirty-five years 
in the way of discovering letters from the pen of Luther. 
The principal ones were already collected and edited by 
De Wette in five volumes (Berlin, 1825-1828). To these 
Seidemann in 1856 added the sixth volume, which brought 
to light a multitude of hitherto overlooked or unknown 
letters ; this, together with his addition of an index and 
many erudite notes, made the production doubly useful. 
After Seidemann in 1859 had published another volume 
of Luther's letters, and especially since the Director of 
Archives at Weimar, Burckhardt, had brought out his 
valuable "Luther's Korrespondenz" in 1866, in which he 
attempted for the first time to collect even the letters 
addressed to Luther, it seemed, as if it were now only 
possible to collect stray letters here and there. Never- 
theless, Kolde in 1883, in his already mentioned "Ana- 
lecta Lutherana" offered a surprisingly great number of 
unknown Luther letters, and each of the following years 
added a few more. Kawerau counted ninety numbers 



20 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

for the period between 1883 and 1908 (Theol. Studien 
und Kritiken, 1908, p. 354), exclusive of the thirty let- 
ters which the aged Burckhardt contributed to the 
"Archiv fuer Reformationsgeschichte," volume IV, pp. 
184 fL, and the new material in Enders', shortly to be 
mentioned, "Luther's Korrespondenz." In the year 191 3 
P. Flemming contributed five unknown letters from the 
Roerer manuscript at Jena (Theol. Stud. u. Krit, 1913, 
p. 288 n\). O. Clemen published another unknown let- 
ter of Luther to Gabriel Zwilling from 1526 (Zeitschr. 
f. Kirchengesch., vol. 34, pp. 93 ff.), while O. Albrecht 
already in 1907 in "Theol. Stud. u. Krit.," pp. 564 n\, had 
made an investigation concerning the collection of Luther 
letters by Michael Stiefel. 

In 1884 Enders took up anew the plan of Burckhardt, 
and contributed to the Luther edition of Erlangen the 
part entitled "Luther's Korrespondenz." With this he 
accomplished a stupendous piece of work. Ten volumes 
were completed, when death, in 1906, claimed this unas- 
suming man and thorough student of Luther, a man who 
was ever ready to assist, as we can vouch for from our 
own experience. Kawerau followed up with the eleventh 
volume, edited according to the principles laid down by 
Enders; a little later on he published the twelfth to 
fourteenth volumes, so that soon the entire work will 
be completed. Kawerau was exactly the right man to 
continue the work of Enders, not only because he had 
published in 1884 and 1885 the letters of Justus Jonas, 
but because, together with Kolde he must be reckoned 
as the most thorough and all-sided student of the history 
of the Reformation that the Church possessed in these 
thirty-five years. He proved this not only through his 
excellent "Geschichte der Reformation und Gegenrefor- 



New Material Discovered 21 

mation" (third volume of "Lehrbuch der Kirchenge- 
schichte," by W. Moeller), but also through the great 
number of his instructive articles on the different char- 
acters of the Reformation in Hauck's "Real-Enzyklo- 
paedie," and through his far-reaching collaboration in the 
Luther edition of Weimar. Because the German letters 
of Luther, which had been taken into "Luther's Korre- 
spondenz" (Luther edition of Erlangen, volumes 53-56), 
could not be included again in this work, and because the 
first volumes of "Luther's Korrespondenz," notwithstand- 
ing its many supplements, are nevertheless incomplete, it 
will devolve upon the Weimar edition to offer a final 
edition of Luther's letters. 

In the meantime, alongside of the endeavors of Enders 
and Kawerau, the 21st volume of the St. Louis Luther 
edition (St. Louis, Mo., 1903-1904) with its German 
translation of the Latin by A. F. Hoppe, renders satis- 
factory service. By dint of Enders and Kawerau there 
appeared "Luther's Correspondence and other contem- 
porary letters" translated and edited by Preserved Smith 
(volume I, 1 507- 1 52 1, Philadelphia, 1913), who had 
already in his "Life and Letters of Martin Luther" 
(1911) 30 letters of Luther translated into English. The 
readers will in all likelihood be acquainted with "Letters 
of Martin Luther," by Margaret A. Currie, published in 
New York in 1908. Professor Dau, of St. Louis, has also 
translated a number of Luther letters for the Theolog- 
ical Quarterly, of which he is editor. Without much 
merit are T. H. Lachmann's "Technische Studien zu 
Luther's Brief en an Friederich den Weisen" (Leipzig, 
Voightlaender, 1913). 

Much has been done in our period in the way of uncov- 
ering the table-talk of Luther. Before 1883 there existed 



22 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

only three works having any bearing on this, the collec- 
tion of Foerstemann-Bindseil, Bindseil's Latin work, and 
a very valuable publication of Seidemann. 17 Foerste- 
mann-Bindseil does not make one directly acquainted 
with the original table-talk, for it only offers a pains- 
taking reprint of Aurifaber's collection of 1566, con- 
tinually compared with other collections. It is, therefore, 
only a secondary or tertiary source of the table-talks. 18 
The collection of Lauterbach, edited by Bindseil in Latin 
in 1863 ff. contains more original material. Yet even 
this was not of first hand, and was built up on different 
foundations. Entirely different was the manner in which 
one became acquainted with the original form of table- 
talks through Seidemann's publication. This is a real 
day-book. It begins with the 1st of January and con- 
cludes with the 25th of December of the same year. 
Almost day for day, Lauterbach had jotted down his 
notes, partly in German, partly in Latin, just which lan- 
guage happened to be used at the table at the time of the 
conversation. In further searches, Seidemann, who was 
a veritable genius in this, found a great deal of new 
unprinted material. Not only did he discover some new 
notes of Lauterbach, but also a diary of Veit Dietrich, 
Luther's intimate companion for many years, and a col- 
lection that very likely belonged to the papers left by 
Johann Matthesius, pastor of Joachimsthal. Added to 
that, he found different collections of secondary value, 
however. Yet even these contained many new things 
and stood closer to the original than the collections of 
Aurifaber and Rebenstock. 18 Before Seidemann could 
publish all his finds, he died. So it fell to the lot of our 
period to accomplish important things in this direction, 
for not only was the result of Seidemann's researches to 




■ SHIP 
|| ^^ crtj^^p^Utflm^ wmtjf||||«cftv 

Luther in the year 1523. 

Copper engraving by Daniel Hopfer. 



New Material Discovered 23 

be edited, but the task remained to search farther for 
material that might still be accessible. 

The latter was done first, and with good success. 
H. Wrampelmeyer found a collection of notes from the 
pen of Luther's friend and companion Conrad Cordatus, 
in Zellerfeld, and published it in 1885. As a matter of 
fact, the title of his publication 19 is very misleading, for 
according to it one expects to find just as trustworthy 
and original notes of Luther's table-talks for the year 
1537, as one does for the year 1538 in Lauterbach's diary. 
But this is by no means the case. Cordatus, who since 
1532 was pastor at Niemeck, near Belzig, and, therefore, 
fully three German miles from Wittenberg, could hardly 
have kept a daybook on the table-talks of Luther, as 
often as he may have come to Wittenberg, and as faith- 
fully as he probably recorded everything he heard Luther 
mention across the table. As a matter of fact, this col- 
lection of Cordatus only in one part contains notes by 
Cordatus himself ; the other part consists of copies, 
extractions, as reviews from the notes of other table 
companions; these again do not all date back to 1537, 
but really to an earlier year. Cordatus concluded his 
collection in 1537. 20 At that, Cordatus was inclined to 
be brief and to condense everything, so that, as a rule, 
we have mere excerpts from him instead of literal rendi- 
tion. 

We must, therefore, rank the publication that the mem- 
ber of the higher consistory at Muenchen, Preger, gave 
us three years later far higher as a true source. 21 For 
here we have, thanks to Preger's care in the matter of 
handling the text, a truly, and in every respect, chrono- 
logically arranged, continual series of conversations from 
the end of the year 1531 until late fall of 1532. Four 



24 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

years later, a publication by Georg Loesche appeared 22 
that has further enriched our knowledge of Luther's 
table-talk. Using Seidemann's handwritings, he pub- 
lished a manuscript from Nuernberg, which, though indi- 
rectly, is traceable to Johann Matthesius. But this lost 
a good deal of its value, when, ten years later, Ernst 
Kroker in a manuscript at Leipzig found trustworthier 
reproductions of the notes of Matthesius, the most im- 
portant parts of which he published in 1903. 23 How much- 
had already been accomplished through these findings, 
and how much closer the actual table-talk had been 
brought us ! And since the endeavors of Seidemann sev- 
eral other written collections were found, especially the 
one in Veit Dietrich's own handwriting. Even Wram- 
pelmeyer contributed another part out of a manuscript, 
that is traceable back to Cordatus, and is now kept at the 
Royal Library at Berlin (1905). 24 

Not only was it deemed satisfactory to make all these 
sources accessible through publication, but it was also 
made the beginning of submitting them to critical exami- 
nation. Preger especially proved himself a very keen- 
witted critic in the introduction to his publication of the 
notes of Schaginhaufen, mentioned above. But more 
than others, Wilhelm Meyer 25 busied himself with this 
object in a special investigation (1896). He shed light 
especially on the work Lauterbach performed in arrang- 
ing and grouping the table-talks. 

In America Preserved Smith 26 acquainted different 
circles with the questions connected with Luther's table- 
talk, through his critical study, New York, 1907. 

In the last decade, commissioned by the committee for 
the Luther edition of Weimar, Ernst Kroker devoted 
himself to an intensive and critical study of the manu- 



New Material Discovered 25 

\ 
scripts at hand. At three different times I 1908, 1910, 
191 1 ) he dwell upon the subject in the "Archiv fuer 
Reformationsgeschichte." In these essays he points out 
the relations existing between the collection of table talk 
of George Roerei and those traceable back to Matthesius, 
the relation existing between Roerer and Schlaginhaufen, 

and finally that between Roarer and Veil Dietrich. All 

of this collected material, equipped with excellent intro 
ductions, is made easily accessible to every one iii the 

edition of \\ Ciniar by Krokcr since [0,12, The In! 

volume offers the notes of Van Dietrich (pp. 1-308 with 
app., pp. 309-330), also the collection of Veil Dietrich 
und Nicolaus Medler (pp. 331-614), the second volume, 
the notes of Schlaginhaufen (pp. 1 252) the collection 
of L. Rabe (pp. 253 272), and the first part of (ordain.' 

collection (pp. 273-672). The coming volumes will in- 
clude the last pari of this collection, notes of Weller and 
Lauterbach of the years [536 and 1537, Lauterbach's 
diary for [538 and the one for 1539, finally the con 

tions for the year 15.(0 as written hy Matthesius, and the 

other collections of the forties. The conclusion will con 
sist in the publication of the undated table talks. The 

la I volume (S tO explain the Origin Of Lauterbach's and 

Aurifaber's large collections. An alphabetically arranged 

index of the individual conversations and a Complete 
index Of the names and events will facilitate the ready 
lltC Oi these volumes. A large series of volumes will be 

ary to complete this gigantic task, but then a foun- 
dation will be laid upon which all further attempts in tins 
direction can be hmli Then also can it he ascertained 

how much of the offensive and vulgar, which Roman 
Catholic writers Beem to find in the table-talks, is really 
to be attributed to Luther, and in what connection these 



26 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

outspoken statements were made. So it is already proven 
that the saying: "Wer nicht liebt Wein, Weib und 
Gesang, der bleibt ein Narr sein Leban lang" is not to 
be traced to Luther, but is of Italian origin. In short, 
when their publication in the Weimar edition has been 
completed these table-talks for their greater part will 
only afford a true estimate of Luther's personality. 

An attempt, well worthy of mention, was made by 
Kawerau in the Braunschweig-Berlin edition of Luther 
(vol. VIII, pp. 105-308) to create a "Life of Luther as 
told by Himself," by taking Luther's memoirs, as they 
were contained in the table-talks, and linking them with 
the events of his life. It is to be lamented, however, 
that in this case Kawerau could only consider the German 
text of Aurifaber's collection. Preserved Smith and' 
H. B. Gallinger did the same, at least in the first part of 
their choice collection of table-talks, 1916. But their col- 
lection had the benefit of the newer publications in this 
subject. It is based especially on the conversations, as 
they are published by Kroker and in the Weimar edition, 
and so has entirely supplanted the old English edition by 
W. Hazlitt, which since 1848 has been often reprinted. 
By means of a good introduction they also prepare their 
readers for the reading of the table-talk. A good intro- 
duction into the table-talks, intended for the common 
people, is the booklet by K. Bauer, "An Luther's Tisch" 
(191 1 ). Like Smith and Gallinger, he assembles in it 
at first the home and table companions of Luther, then 
gives biographical sketches of them, discusses the sub- 
ject of the conversations and the handing-down of the 
table-talk. At last on the strength of systematically 
grouped selections it forms an estimate of Luther's per- 
sonality. 




Luther in the year 1525. 

Painting by Cranach. 



III. NEW EDITIONS OF LUTHER'S WORKS 

It was of the greatest importance, when in 1883 the 
Prussian secretary of the interior allowed himself to be 
influenced by Koestlin and others, to guarantee the means 
necessary for a new critical edition of Luther's works, 
and to entrust its leadership to the already mentioned 
Knaake, who was to work in connection with a special 
commission created for this purpose. Even though at 
that time no one had a true conception of the wealth of 
material that has been discovered in the course of time, 
yet, now a storehouse was held in readiness for all new 
findings, and the possibility that the work would remain 
uncompleted through lack of funds was ruled out. It 
will ever remain a splendid page in the history of the 
House of Hohenzollern that it called upon students of 
theology, history and German culture and supported so 
generously their united endeavors toward completing a 
national edition of Luther that was commensurate with 
his importance. And it was a true sign of the religious 
as well as of the national bent of mind that prompted 
church and science, city and nobility, authorities and 
individuals to stand together and guarantee the produc- 
tion and sale of this work. In the proclamation of 1883 
it was said : 

"The great national memorial whose early stages should adorn 
the coming fete day can not be what it should be unless all of 
Protestant Germany cheerfully does its part. The word of the 
'greatest man of the people, the most popular character Germany 
ever possessed,' 27 as one of the famous men in Germany once 

27 



28 Thirty -Five Years of Luther Research 

called Luther, can not only appear before the nation in all its 
monumental greatness, it must, like once when it set aflame the 
hearts of all the people, be heard by and become the warp and 
woof of the people. The new complete edition of Luther's works 
must be accorded a reception among the German people that is 
in proportion to its work. It is the duty of the German Church 
and German Science and of her highest dignitaries and her best 
representatives, to grasp the importance of this edition fully and 
wherever possible to endorse it warmly to others. It is the duty 
of Protestant princes and the German government to supply the 
means, so that this complete edition will never be absent in those 
places where the treasures of German literature and science are 
collected and kept. It is the duty of all protestant cities and of 
their authorities to arrange it so that the writings of Luther in 
their original form are made accessible to every class. It is the 
duty of that Christian nobility of the German nation, that Luther 
once called to his aid in his reformatory labors, to accord its 
practical co-operation to this national memorial. It is the duty 
of all the friends of German language and German literature, of 
German culture and German thought, to work everywhere for 
the spread of these works of Luther, that will always remain the 
emblem of the German spirit." 

This proclamation was not in vain, as the ever-increas- 
ing number of subscriptions testified. The edition has 
been called the "Weimar Luther Edition" because it was 
printed by Herman Boehlau at Weimar. Or, it has been 
called the "Kaiser Edition," because the German Em- 
peror sponsored the undertaking from the very start. 
Today 52 parts of it are complete in 60 volumes, to which 
must be added the volumes containing the German Bible 
and the table-talk (at present five volumes), which are 
counted separately. It is not free from errors, and at 
different times the controlling spirits did not prove them- 
selves above bias, but, taken all in all, it marks the com- 
pletion of a stupendous piece of work, commensurate 
with the period of the most intensive research in the life 



New Editions of Luther's Works 29 

of Luther and certainly its pinnacle of achievement. 
Much was also accomplished here in the way of printing, 
something which only he can appreciate who knows a lit- 
tle of the typographical difficulties in connection with a 
work of this kind, and who, like the writer of this, has 
had an opportunity to look into the different phases of 
the proof sheets. 28 At the head of this undertaking at 
first stood Knaake, then Pietsch, and at the present time 
Drescher, all of whom were subordinated to the greater 
commission. Among the collaborators I shall name 
Kawerau, Walther, Buchwald, Cohrs, Albrecht, N. Muel- 
ler, J. Ficker, Thiele, Koffmane, Kroker and Brenner. 
After the appearance of every single volume Kolde wrote 
a valuable and thoroughly critical review in the "Goet- 
tinger Gelehrte Anzeigen." Brieger, of Leipzig, did the 
same for a number of years in "Zeitschrift fuer Kirch- 
engeschichte." The researches, especially in regard to 
the volume containing the catechisms, extended far be- 
yond the limits of Germany. 

Beginning with 1883 editions have also been pub- 
lished to meet the requirements of the cultured home, 
for the great critical Weimar edition can never be com- 
mon property, for the reason that it is too voluminous 
and expensive, and because of its entire arrangement. I 
shall only direct attention to the three volumes, "Luther 
als ein Klassiker" (Frankfurt, 1883), to the three small 
volumes, "Martin Luther ausgewaehlt und erlaeutert 
durch R. Neubauer" (Halle, 1903), to the volume 
"Luther's Werke, ausgewaehlt fuer das Volk und her- 
ausgegeben von J. Boehmer" (Stuttgart, 1907). All of 
these are excelled by an edition of Luther, undertaken 
by Buchwald, Kawerau, Koestlin, Rade, Schneider and 
others, printed by C. A. Schwetschke und Sohn in Braun- 



30 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

schweig (later in Berlin, therefore generally called the 
Berlin-, formerly the Braunschweig-edition), a work 
that at the present time is in its second stereotype edition. 
Its introduction takes special cognizance of the situation, 
as created by Janssen. Here we read : "Today it is be- 
ing attempted not to cause external strife among the 
German people, but internal. With a dazzling show of 
scientific research, the ground is being undermined, from 
which every German hitherto drew his nourishment. The 
attempt is being made to draw down into the mire the 
men and their intellectual works for which other nations 
envy us. But, you German people, will not allow your- 
self to be robbed of them, as long as you understand 
them ; you will understand them as long as you read them ; 
you will read them as long as you retain the freedom that 
Luther pried loose for you." This edition completely 
deserves the widespread recognition it has received. It 
offers the Latin writings in a good German translation, 
gives short historical introductions, contains explanatory 
notes, and represents, especially since two volumes have 
been added containing the two writings, "De Votis 
Monasticis" and "De Servo Arbitrio," a selection through 
which one may actully learn to know Luther as he lived. 
Above all things, no German Lutheran parsonage in 
America, if it holds no larger edition, should do without 
the services of this selection. 

It is by no means to be considered as a competitory 
undertaking, when that careful investigator of Luther, 
Otto Clemen, who since 1896 through articles con- 
cerning the different phases of the life and work of 
Luther, steadily was making a reputation for himself, 
published a new edition of selected works of Luther by 
Marcus and Weber at Bonn since 1912. By reason of 



New Editions of Luther's Works 31 

the circumstance, that it contents itself with four vol- 
umes (however, a fifth volume is planned as a comple- 
ment), and that it reproduces the original form of the 
writings, even in regard to the spelling, punctuation and 
form of type, it has become an edition for students that 
satisfied a long felt want. In the reproduction of the 
texts and in its concise introductions it is sometimes even 
more correct than the edition of Weimar (at least as far 
as the first volumes of this work are concerned). Neither 
is the selection published at Muenchen, which is still in 
the first stages of its making, strictly speaking, a com- 
petitory undertaking. It is since 1914 edited by H. H. 
Borcherdt, under the collaboration of Barge, Buchwald, 
Kalkoff, Schumann, Stammler and Thode, and is intro- 
duced by Thode's separate essay, "Luther und die 
deutsche Kultur" (Muenchen 191 4). It wishes to place 
the emphasis upon the writings that are of value to his- 
tory in general, and to history of culture, and offers many 
illustrations. From the fifteen volumes, according to 
the plan of its editors, we have the second before us. It 
contains the principal writings of 1520 and in its most 
excellent introduction of one hundred and eighty-six 
pages a fine description of the procedure of Rome against 
Luther up to 1520 from the pen of that thorough student, 
Kalkoff. 

In America the thanks of the church is due to the 
Synod of Missouri for the fact that it has undertaken and 
successfully completed an edition of Luther's works. 
Since the Pastoral Conference of the Western District 
of this Synod decided in 1879 to undertake a republica- 
tion of the old Luther-edition of Walch, this work be- 
gan. Anno 1 880- 1 88 1 the first two volumes put in their 
appearance. Only later on it became apparent what a 



32 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

mighty undertaking had been attempted. For the antiqu- 
ated Walch-edition did not only need to be reprinted, but 
its German volumes had to be compared with the original, 
its Latin volumes had to be newly translated for the 
greater part, and all of the introductory paragraphs had 
to be remolded to meet the requirements of the knowl- 
edge of the day. Since 1885 Prof. R. F. Hoppe devoted 
his entire time and energy to this undertaking. Easter 
1 9 10 he wrote the preface to the last, the twenty-third, 
volume, which contains the valuable "Hauptsachregis- 
ter," also the index for sayings, together with corrections 
and appendices. 

This edition should be prized more highly in our land 
than is generally the case. True, it does not meet the re- 
quirements of a learned Luther-scholar, but at the same 
time what an accomplishment the translations reveal! 
For example, Kawerau has the following to say concern- ., 
ing Hoppe's translations of the Latin letters: "I have 
examined a part of the newly translated letters of Luther, 
and have found them almost always reproduced in faith- 
ful and trustworthy manner, even there where difficulties 
were to be overcome." (Studien und Kritiken, 1908, p. 
336). Hoppe's work concerning the table-talk (vol. 22) 
especially has been widely recognized. As late as 1906 
Tschackert said: "The best edition, until now, the one 
of Foerstemann and Bindseil, is far excelled in point of 
critical selection and careful use of the known sources 
(i. e., published sources, for the manuscripts were inac- 
cessible to Hoppe) by the work of Prof. Hoppe in the 
renewed edition of Walch" (Kurtz, Lehrbuch der Kirch- 
engeschichte, Leipzig, 1906). Even if the following 
statement of Kroker (Weimar edition, Table-Talk, vol. 2, 
p. 32) must be restricted by the fact that Hoppe (fol- 



New Editions of Luther's Works 33 

lowing the lead of Wrampelmeyer) allowed himself to be 
deceived in his estimation of Cordatus' collection, it is 
still of importance what Kroker did say, after Hauss- 
leiter before in the "Theol. Literaturblatt' had laid spe- 
cial emphasis on his demand for a recognition of Hoppe's 
accomplishment: "But the translations are so excellent 
that one can only lament the fact that the rejuvenated 
Walch could not translate Dietrich's notes, Schlagin- 
haufen's book, Lauterbach's diary for 1539, the Matthe- 
sian collection of 1530 and other notes in the same man- 
ner (like the collection of Cordatus and Lauterbach's 
diary for 1538) ; among the footnotes also are several 
propositions, well worthy of mention, for improvement 
of the text." 

The English-speaking branch of the American Luth- 
eran Church also busied itself with the works of Luther. 
First of all Dr. Lenker, who devoted his entire time, 
strength, tireless energy, and burning zeal to the great 
task of offering Luther in the English language, must be 
mentioned. To date fourteen volumes of the Standard 
Edition of Luther's works, edited by him, with the col- 
laboration of others have appeared — J. Schaller of the 
Synodical Conference, Gohdes of the Ohio Synod, and 
Voigt of the United Synod of the South are especially to 
be mentioned in this connection. These volumes com- 
prise: two volumes of the commentary for Genesis, two 
volumes of explanation of the Psalms, one volume on 
the Epistle of St. Peter and St. Jude, one volume of 
catechetical writings, five volumes of sermons on the 
Gospels (Kirchenpostille), and three volumes of sermons 
on the Epistles. Lenker's interest was mainly practical. 
It was his aim to bring out the hidden treasures of 
Luther pre-eminently useful for the practical side of 



34 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

the ministry. It was his aim that the Lutheran exegete, 
preacher, and catechete availing himself of the English 
language as a medium would be kept within sane con- 
fines through the study of Luther, and that our English- 
speaking Lutherans would have sane and edifying read- 
ing matter. And, indeed, this is an aim worthy of the 
highest endeavor. It is an entirely different question, 
whether this work is well planned, whether it is placed on 
a scientifically satisfactory basis, and whether it is har- 
moniously executed. But even if this work lacks in many 
directions, the Lutheran. Church in America still owes 
Lenker a great debt for his labors. 

On account of these wants, it is to be welcomed with 
great joy that five members of the Pennsylvania Minis- 
terium (C. M. Jacobs, A. T. W. Steinhaeuser, W. A. 
Lambert, J. J. Schindel, and A. Steimle) have united for 
a new attempt. In those volumes, "Works of Martin- 
Luther with introductions and notes'" (first volume ap- 
peared in April, 191 5), published by A. J. Holman Com- 
pany at Philadelphia, we find an accomplishment, well 
worthy of mention and excellently considered in all its 
aspects. Notwithstanding the fact that it generally fol- 
lows the Braunschweig-Berlin edition, a decided improve- 
ment over this edition is to be noted in this, that it has 
elected to give the different writings in their chronolog- 
ical, instead of their systematic, order. Only in this 
manner the gradual development of Luther's personality 
and of his conception of the truth will be understood. 
The texts, which the translators used, are, thanks to 
the reproduction in the edition of Weimar and the appear- 
ance of Clemen's edition, far more trustworthy than 
those of the Braunschweig-Berlin edition, The transla- 
tions are good, without being too literal. The introduc- 




Luther in the year 1526. 
Painting by Cranach. 



New Editions of Luther's Works 35 

tions, and notations and literary notes, are correct and 
satisfactory. There only remains the wish that these 
volumes will find a ready sale and will be really studied. 
They should receive the place of honor in every parson- 
age of our English-speaking Church and should not be 
missed in any city library. The preface of the Braun- 
schweig-Berlin edition concludes with the following 
words : "Thus we have undertaken in common labor, 
German people, to place your Luther into your hands, 
so that you might learn to know, prize and love him ; so 
that you may take inspiration from his writings, that are 
imbued with the Holy Spirit, to keep the faith, children, 
even as your forefathers kept the faith, when you hear 
the great hero of the faith speak of those things that 
made him strong and fearless. Learn to know your 
Luther, not covered with political halo, not the command- 
ing figure, hewn out of solid granite, but Luther as he 
worked and lived, in his greatness and in his weakness, 
in his zealousness and in his overzealousness, in his wis- 
dom and his abruptness. Thus allow his word to touch 
you, if it admonishes you and urges you on, if it strikes 
you and raises you, if it shows you the reflection of your- 
self, as you once were, as you are now, and how you 
shall be, if you but remain true to your German mind and 
German nature." If you substitute the word "Lutheran" 
for the word "German," it will also serve literally for this 
new English edition of Luther. 



IV. RESEARCHES ON PARTICULAR PHASES 
OF THE LIFE AND THEOLOGY 
OF LUTHER 

In as much as we are about to make mention of those 
valuable individual investigations which have been made 
during the last thirty-five years in the life and theology 
of Luther, we shall name them in their chronological 
sequence, and the career of the Reformer will furnish us 
with the links that will connect the one with the other. 

1. Luther's Youth 

Luther at all times held his father in high regard. 
The life of Luther's father, in spite of many investiga- 
tions, has always been unclear in many respects. Catho- 
lic writers sometimes even portrayed it as possessing 
flagrantly immoral propensities. W. Moellenberg 29 
therefore in 1906, after carefully examining the papers 
of the Mansfeld mine at Eisleben and the council 
minutes of the city of Mansfeld, which are now in 
Magdeburg, shed new light on the life and doings of 
Hans Luther, especially on his possessions and his trade, 
so that we now are much better acquainted with his grad- 
ually increasing wealth and prominence. That the maiden 
name of Luther's Mother was not Lindemann as we still 
sometimes read owing to a statement of Rector Schneide- 
win of Wittenberg to that effect, but rather Ziegler, 
Knaake proved in a lengthy article in "Theologische 
Studien und Kritiken" (1881). When Hans Luther's 
son Martin was born, whether in 1482 (according to a 

36 



Luther's Youth 37 

bronze tablet on Luther's grave, which, allowing Luther 
sixty-three years, two months and ten days, points to the 
seventh of December, 1482) or 1484 (as Melanchthon 
would have it), or 1483, is something that can not be as- 
certained beyond doubt, as is generally conceded. 
G. Oergel (1889) put in a plea again for 1482, and was 
inclined to accept the seventh of December as the birth- 
day of the Reformer. 30 However, Drews points out 
that Luther himself, in a letter of the sixth of Decem- 
ber, 1532, mentions that he celebrates his birthday on St. 
Martin's day, and Kawerau, through an article in the 
"Neue Kirchliche Zeitschrift," seems almost to prove 
beyond doubt that Luther was born in 1483, notwith- 
standing Luther said himself as late as spring, 1543, 
"nullus est certus de nativitatis tempore, for Philippus et 
ego are one year apart in our views." (Kroker, Luther's 
Tischreden, 1903, no. 625.) 

Since 1497 Luther attended school in Magdeburg and 
Eisleben. If one desires to know something of the 
knowledge purveyed to him at this time, he must acquaint 
himself with the writings of Kaemmel, Mueller, Knepper, 
Schmid and Bauch. 31 Concerning the "Brethren of the 
common life" (also called "Nullbrueder"), to which or- 
der his teachers in Magdeburg belonged, one may be ex- 
cellently informed by L. Schulze's article in Hauck's 
"Real Enzyclopaedie," III, pp. 474-507, together with 
its lengthy supplements in Volume XXIII, pp. 260-269. 
Schoengen in his book, "Die Schule von Zwolle" (Frei- 
burg, 1898), deals especially with the schools of this or- 
der. We also direct attention, as far as Luther's school 
years at Mansfeld, Magdeburg and Eisenach are con- 
cerned, to the first volume of O. Scheel's work, "Martin 
Luther. Vom Katholicismus zur Reformation" (Tue- 



38 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

bingen, 191 6), in which, by means of the school statutes 
of the late Middle Ages, the teaching and the learning in 
the preparatory schools of the universities is minutely 
described, although here the error is also made that the 
author in unwarranted and arbitrary fashion pictures the 
conditions better than they in reality were. E. Schneide- 
wind, 1883, in his booklet, "Das Lutherhaus in Eisenach," 
offers much concerning the Cotta family, that so gener- 
ously welcomed Luther into its midst. Buchwald also 
gives a happy account of Luther's stay here. 32 

2. Luther at the University 

In the summer of 1501 Luther matriculated at the 
University of Erfurt. Today we have a much truer and 
detailed conception of the conditions prevailing at Erfurt 
at that time, and of its teachers than the one obtained' 
through F. W. Kampschulte's "Die Universitaet Erfurt 
in ihrem Verhaeltnis zu dem Humanismus und der Re- 
formation" (1858 and i860), which, however, is still 
worthy of notice today. This change was primarily 
brought about by Oergel, Kolde, Bauch, Hermelink and 
Scheel. 33 Hermelink has taught us better to understand 
the teaching of the Humanists, which naturalized itself 
also in Erfurt. He pointed out, above all things, that 
it was by no means an offshoot of the Italian Renaissance 
movement, but, on the contrary a relatively independent 
reform endeavor on German soil, which, although desir- 
ing to be unhampered by the guardianship of the clergy, 
still remained entirely within the pale of the Mediaeval 
Age, and was in nowise modernly pagan and materialist- 
ically inclined. With these Humanists Luther could be 
related and yet remain a Catholic. 

Hermelink has also made us better acquainted with 



Luther at the University 39 

the theological and philosophical teachers of Luther, 
Jodocus Trutvetter and Bartholomaeus Arnoldi of Usin- 
gen, 34 and through them with the theology that was 
taught Luther. He locates them as Occamists, whose 
leader at this time was Gabriel Biel in Tuebingen, 35 and 
whose philosophy they represented. It was known as 
the via moderna. Thanks to Hermelink, we are also in 
a position better to understand these German Occamists, 
and through this Luther's own development, in as much 
as he proves that their teaching was in nowise identical 
with Nominalism. "It did not deny that the genera and 
the intelligible cosmos were realities or entities. It was 
much rather by nature methodical and 'erkenntnis- 
theoretisch.' It attempted in critical spirit to distinguish 
between the province of faith and the province of science 
by means of a grammatical-terministic logic, derived 
from stoic influences, in order to make place for a theol- 
ogy that was both positivistic and Christian, respectively 
ecclesiastical. Thus, instead of being the opposite of 
realistic ontology, it was merely a theory about the way 
of theological thinking, which linked itself everywhere 
with the Platonic-realistic metaphysic." Of the text- 
books that formed the basis for study in the university 
especial mention must be made of those named by Ficker 
in his edition of Luther's commentary on Romans (pp. 
civ), to wit, those by Trutvetter: Breviarium dialecticum, 
Erphordiae 1500; Summulae totius logicae, Erphordiae 
1 501 (Summa in totam physicen, Erph. 15 14) ; those by 
Usingen: Compendium totius logicae, Lipsiae 1500; Par- 
vulus philosophiae naturalis, nguralis interpretatio in 
epitomam philosophiae naturalis, editio secunda, Basiliae 
151 1. Scheel has even found manuscripts in the libraries 
of Stuttgart and Munich that contain a great share of 



40 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

the lectures Luther attended as a student and baccalaureus 
artium at Erfurt, so that at last a much more trustworthy 
and plastic conception of his university work can be ar- 
rived at than before. 

Kolde has shed light upon all the different phases of 
the religious life in Erfurt. Especially did he throw 
the searchlight on the preaching at Erfurt when he made 
us better acquainted with the sermons on indulgences 
and other subjects by the Augustinian Genser (or Jenser) 
of Paltz, and when he published from a manuscript a ser- 
mon Genser preached at the beginning of a semester at 
the university in October, 1482. We are now able to 
appreciate what Luther said later on, although sermons 
were regularly and often heard in Erfurt, that during 
his stay he had never heard a Christian sermon. 

3. Luther Enters the Monastery 

Oergel has shed more light on the circumstances con- 
nected with Luther's entrance into the monastery, when 
he tells how during the year of 1505 the university was 
visited by quite a number of dire happenings. He tells 
how suddenly a classmate of Luther died of pleurisy; 
how just at this time the plague and spotted fever made 
many victims at Erfurt, so that during the summer a 
panic occurred among the students. All this helps to 
explain why just at this time the serious thoughts of 
death and judgment tormented the soul of Luther, even 
though the principal motive of his entrance into the 
monastery always remained the inner restlessness and 
desire for salvation, of which Hermelink excellently says 
that the western church always kept this restlessness and 
desire present, nurturing the same for pedagogical rea- 
sons and at the same time satisfying it. 



Luther Enters Monastery 41 

The monastery which Luther entered belonged to that 
division of the Augustinian order called "Observantes." 
Kolde's already mentioned writing concerning the Ger- 
man Augustinians and Johann von Staupitz enables us 
to understand the peculiarity of these "Observantes." 
We find that the Augustinians in Germany were divided 
into four provinces since 1299, to wit, the Rhenisch- 
Suebian, the Bavarian, the Thuringian-Saxonian and the 
one of Cologne-Flanders. When, in the fifteenth cen- 
tury, a reformation among the German Augustinian 
monasteries became more and more imperative, Henry 
Zolter, enthusiastic for the abandoned strictness in 
monasteries, succeeded in combining together, for the 
purpose of observing strictly the old Augustinian rules, 
as an independent union, five monasteries, the one at 
Himmelspforte, near Wernigerode; the one at Magde- 
burg, at Dresden, at Waldheim, and at Koenigsberg, in 
Franconia. These five were called "Observantes," in 
contradistinction to the bulk of other Augustinians called 
"Conventuales." Andreas Proles energetically carried on 
Zolter's plan, so that his union, now called the congrega- 
tion of Proles, or the Saxonian, or the German, was 
fully recognized in 1496, in spite of the fact, that he and 
the monasteries that held with him by the General-Vicar 
of the order were once temporarily placed under the ban. 
More than that, its claim for an independent vicar was 
granted, and it was considered completely on par with 
the four German provinces mentioned before. Proles 
was furthermore successful in winning twenty-five other 
monasteries in addition to the five already named, for the 
purpose of observing the old rules of the order more 
strictly, because not a few of these twenty-five belonged 
to the most important ones in all Germany, and even of 



42 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

the Netherlands; for example, the ones in Muenchen, 
Nuernberg, Erfurt, Gotha, Magdeburg, Dresden, Wit- 
tenberg, Nordhausen, Muehlhausen in Alsace, Bonn, 
Coeln, Haarlem, Dordrecht. This "German Congrega- 
tion" at the time of Proles' death, in 1503, constituted a 
real power. Proles' successor as General- Vicar was the 
well-known Staupitz, who was elected at the meeting in 
Eschwege on the seventeenth of May, 1503, according to 
the wish of Proles. Thus through his entrance into the 
monastery at Erfurt Luther became one of the "Ob- 
servantes," a member of the "German Congregation," 
and the noble-minded Staupitz came to be his first supe- 
rior in Germany. 

Since Denifle had cast so many aspersions on Luther's 
monastery life, it became necessary to study this period 
of the life of the Reformer more thoroughly. Outside of 
the brief answers made to Denifle by Kolde, Seeberg, 
Haussleiter, Brieger, Koehler, Harnack and Walther, 86 
we have here especially to consider Benrath, and even 
more so Braun. 37 Because Denifle contends that since 
151 5, certainly since 1519, "the vow of chastity had 
proven itself irksome to Luther," and that the real mo- 
tive for his defection from Rome is to be found in his 
weakness for carnal sins, Benrath takes into considera- 
tion the entire period from his entrance into the monas- 
tery up to his marriage. He discloses beyond contradic- 
tion the manipulations and distortions of facts exercised 
by Denifle, and permits us to see for ourselves how 
Luther during his monastery period outgrew the Mediae- 
val Church, and how the fundamentals were first laid in 
his own life. He shows that the position which Luther 
finally won over against the Roman Church can only be 
understood as the slowly matured result of religious de- 



Luther Enters Monastery 43 

velopment, a development, that had to pass through all 
stages of alleged certainty of gaining salvation and the 
bitter knowledge that external guarantees do not allay 
doubt until it found its way to the truly blessed certainty 
of God's paternity through Jesus Christ. 

Braun visualizes the internal development of Luther up 
to 1521, wherefore we must return to his work later on. 
We must, however, in this connection, consider that 
Braun very definitely brings out that it was not weakness 
for carnal sins that contaminated Luther all these years, 
and brought about the end of his relation with Rome. 
On the contrary, it was his eminently tender conscience, 
the very opposite of the "Kautschuk-conscience" trained 
by the Church, his conscience which would not allow it- 
self to be soothed either through the at that time cus- 
tomary reference to the "Monk's Baptism" (i. e., to the 
power of order to make up for sins) or through sacra- 
mental magic, but which would trouble itself before and 
after dispensation of grace because of the consciousness 
of inherent lusts, until the New Testament conception of 
grace, with its mercy of God, that reckons no sins to the 
faithful, came into its own, and through faith in it peace 
entered the heart. Braun says "the Luther personality 
that becomes apparent to us through his theological en- 
deavors is none other than the one we already know from 
his mode of life. His unbending veracity that is never 
guilty of distortion of justice, that by the scholastic dis- 
tinctions of sins of omission, of weaknesses, of excusable 
ignorance, the scholastic assertion of the validity of good 
intentions, and whatever the rest of softening phrases, 
may be called, does not allow its moral convictions to 
be confused, but abides by the dictum of the conscience 
and calls sin sin, — his excellent psychological understand- 



44 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

ing of the methods of divine pedagogy, finally the uncon- 
ditional dependence on the grace of God, because of 
which, following in the steps of Paul and Augustine, he 
finds nothing of good in himself, but attributes all of 
holiness, all of virtue, all of good to the freely given 
mercy of God, — all of these constitute the spiritual seal 
which Luther's theology bears. They are the proof that 
God was with him." 

4. Luther's Journey to Rome 

In the year 1508 Luther was called to the University of 
Wittenberg. Haussleiter gives us an idea of the univer- 
sity at this time, whereas Bauch sheds light on its relation 
to Scholasticism and Haupt illustrates how much the uni- 
versities of today owe to the founding of Wittenberg. 38 
As is known, after one year at Wittenberg, Luther was 
called back to Erfurt (probably by his order), where in 
the fall of 1509 he entered as Sententiarius. 

It appears that during this time at Erfurt he made his 
journey to Rome. As to time, motive for going and 
route of travel nobody seems to know very much. Haus- 
rath, Tuerk, Elze, Kawerau, Todt and especially Boeh- 
mer in our period treat of his journey. 39 Hausrath, in 
using the guide of the pilgrims to Rome at that time, 
the Mirabilia urbis Romse, made the interesting attempt 
to interpret Luther's sojourn at the different places of 
grace in Rome and his scattered notes concerning' these 
by means of this old guide. It was interesting, but not 
trustworthy. Much less does the work of Hausrath 
bring us to a decision as to the time, whether in the winter 
of 1510-11 or in the winter of 1511-12, or as to the mo- 
tive for going, whether as a representative of the seven 
convents rebelling against Staupitz or as a mediator upon 



Luther's Journey to Rome 45 

the wish of Staupitz. Tuerk and Kawerau devoted them- 
selves to gathering every possible expression of Luther 
that might have a bearing upon his journey to Rome. 
Elze, Todt and Clemen have performed a service for us 
in connection with discoveries as to the route of travel. 
However, Boehmer has given us the main production. 

In his work not only are all the sources that come into 
consideration carefully and critically examined, but addi- 
tional sources bearing upon important issues are used. 
For Boehmer does not only give us those passages of the 
very rare Alphabetum of the Augustinian hermit, Felix 
Milensius, that have reference to the matter reviewed, 
but he also enriches our knowledge of the trouble between 
Staupitz and the seven revolutionary convents and fur- 
nishes us with a reproduction of entries for 1508 and 
1509 in the diary of the General of the Order, Egidio, 
and two important communications of the Council at 
Nuernberg addressed to the General and the Chapter of 
the Augustinians at Koeln. 

On the basis of this we have pretty conclusive evi- 
dence that Luther started his journey in fall, say in 
November, 15 10, and that Luther was in Rome during 
January, 151 1. We are now also better informed as to 
the motive of the journey. Luther actually did go to 
Rome in the interest of the seven revolutionary convents. 
Staupitz, in harmony with the General of the Order, 
Egidio, also wished to reform the "Conventuales" (cf. 
above) and with this end in view to unite for the first 
the Augustinian Province Saxonia with the "German 
Congregation." The majority of the twenty-nine "Ob- 
servantes," namely, twenty-two, agreed to this and recog- 
nized the union ; but seven convents under the leadership 
of the Frankish District Vicar of Kulmbach, Simon 



46 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

Kayser, raised their voices in protest. These were the 
convents of Nuernberg, Kulmbach, Koenigsberg in Fran- 
conia, Sangerhausen, Nordhausen, Sternberg in Mecklen- 
burg and Erfurt. They were afraid that, instead of the 
ideal of the "Observantes" being assimilated by the "Con- 
ventuales" through this union, the levity of these would 
find access into their own ranks. When all other means 
had failed they did not hesitate to send a delegation to the 
General of the Order at Rome, in order to nullify the 
union and make their ideal secure. As a member of this 
delegation the monastery at Erfurt elected the monk, 
Martin Luther. He could hardly have been the litis 
procurator, but only the socius itinerarius. For the for- 
mer position an experienced man was required, one who 
understood the procedure at the Roman See — perhaps 
the distinguished monk of Nuernberg, Anton Kress, was 
entrusted with this position. At their arrival in Rome 
the commissioners brought their matter to the Procurator 
in January, 151 1, but a deaf ear was turned to them. So 
after a stay of four weeks in Rome they started their 
journey homeward, their mission unfulfilled. Even 
to-day we can read an entry into the General's diary for 
January, 151 1, which says: "Appellare ex Legibus Ger- 
mani prohibentur." But the journey to Rome brought no 
new light or peace to Luther's soul, not even the ascent 
of the Scala Santa of Pilate. 40 

At the same time Boehmer gives a minute description 
of Rome at that time, where every statement made is 
carefully proven by the literature of the age, and where, 
for the description of the immeasurably sunken state of 
morals, the not altogether unknown yet not very thor- 
oughly used book, "The Lozana Andaluza," of Francisco 
Delirado, Venice, 1528, is made use of. Boehmer also 



Luther Made Doctor of Divinity, 1512 47 

for the first time offers an attractive suggestion as to 
what course Luther's career took immediately after his 
return from Rome. A second delegation sent by the 
Nuernberg Convent — likely in the name of the others — 
which brought a communication of the Nuernberg Coun- 
cil to the General of the Order succeeded in so far, that 
an actual union between the "Observantes" and the other 
Augustinians in Germany was no longer expected, and 
that from now on the only requirement was that all 
parties recognize in Staupitz their Vicar General, other- 
wise having nothing in common. This new proposition 
was discussed at Jena in the middle of July, 1511. Here 
again the seven "Observantes" protested. But, the main 
object had been achieved and the danger that because of 
the union the levity of the "Conventuales" might find 
entrance among them, avoided; so Luther and Johann 
Lang, it seems, went over to the side of Staupitz. Be- 
cause he now knew that he must be in opposition to the 
majority of his brother-monks at Erfurt, Luther would 
have been glad to be called back again to Wittenberg by 
Staupitz. In the spring of 1512 he had already moved 
there and it was probably in May, 15 12, that he repre- 
sented the Convent of Wittenberg in Koeln at the occa- 
sion of the assembly of Congregations. 41 

5. Luther Made Doctor of Divinity, 1512 

At the assembly in Koeln some resolutions were formed 
that were important for Luther's future. He was not 
only named as sub-prior of the Wittenberg Monastery, 
in which capacity it devolved upon him to take the leader- 
ship in the course of study there, but he was also called 
upon to become a postulant for the title of Divine Doctor. 
One can readily see in this, that at this time already 



48 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

Staupitz intended that his tried disciple should take the 
place in Wittenberg, which he himself as yet occupied, 
the "Lectura in Biblia auf das Augustinerkloster 
gestiftet." 

Concerning the solemn ceremony when Luther was 
made a Divine Doctor, 42 on the 18th and 19th of Octo- 
ber, Steinlein published a valuable investigation, in which 
he describes the procedure of the promotion, the mean- 
ing of being a Doctor, in itself as well as in reference 
to Luther — whom it gave a strong impulse and secure 
footing, whereas it did not influence his relation to Holy 
Scriptures, as this had been a most intimate one before — 
and also the prominence which Luther in different periods 
of his activity accorded to his being a Divine Doctor. 

6. Luther's Development from 1512-1517 

Of what nature was Luther's theological development 
between 15 12 and 15 17, i. e., how did Luther's mind 
gradually become free from Rome and how did he be- 
come an evangelical Christian and an evangelical theolo- 
gian? The Roman Catholic Denifle, above all others, as 
has already been briefly stated, placed this question in 
the foreground, and Grisar held fast to similar asser- 
tions that strongly incriminated Luther, and scattered 
them broadcast in the widest circles. One cannot answer 
this question without at the same time answering the 
other question, namely, in how far the later statements 
made by Luther himself about his theological develop- 
ment, and about his monastery life and the vulgarly Cath- 
olic beliefs, which obtained in Luther's time, are trust- 
worthy. Denifle, Grisar and Paulus prefer simply to 
ignore these as being entirely devoid of historical interest, 
sometimes they even attempt to hold them up as proofs of 



Luther's Development from 1512-1517 49 

a strong streak of dishonesty in Luther, whereas the 
Protestant theologians contend, while admitting that 
Luther's memory failed him in some single instances, 
that they in the main, as far as his theological develop- 
ment is concerned, are entirely trustworthy. Among the 
later Scheel is probably the most ready to admit that 
Luther's memory played him false in some material re- 
spects. But he at the same time is a strong opponent 
against the Catholic assertions and holds that all decisive 
features related by Luther are correct. 43 

So it must be considered a historical fact what Luther 
tells of his "Klostererlebnis." It was really "auf diesem 
Turm," i. e., in the tower room of the cloister at Witten- 
berg, where Luther for the first time gained the 
evangelical understanding of Rom. 1, 17, and as a result 
peace for his soul. It is characteristic for Grisar's mind 
and method when starting from a very doubtful text, that 
he attempts to prove that Luther found this important and 
saving explanation in the privy ; but even if he were right, 
what would it matter ? Kawerau and Scheel on this point 
strike Grisar home in a way deserved by him. 44 We are 
not able to say with certainty at what time this new un- 
derstanding of the term "jnstitia Dei" was given to 
Luther, but Scheel, it seems, dates it correctly in the year 
1512-13. 

Furthermore, it is a fact that Luther soon after his 
Doctor-promotion began to work on the Psalms and that 
in these lectures, extending from 1 513-15 16, we have an 
important milestone of his inner development. Without 
placing himself, after a critical examination, in opposi- 
tion to the system of doctrine of the Church, still there 
are moments when rays of true evangelical faith break 
through these lectures, especially can we more and more 



50 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

gain glimpses into a soul that has found its peace in 
that righteousness of God that makes all sinners just. 
Outside of Hering it was Dieckhoff especially who busied 
himself more intimately with these lectures. 45 

Already, before completion of the lectures on the 
Psalms, Luther in 151 5 began with the Epistle to the 
Romans. This commentary has been well treated by its 
first editor, Johannes Ficker 46 , in an extended introduc- 
tion. Here we see the lightning flashes of the great 
themes of the following years much more frequently and 
distinctly than in the lectures on the Psalms and we watch 
the Reformer's inner man develop in an astonishing man- 
ner. Here Luther also proves himself a lover of German 
and a scholar in the best sense of this word. Ficker says 
(1. c, p. LII) : "Luther is the first German professor who, 
in the academic lecture room, made use of his mother- 
tongue, and it is the lecture on Romans, in which he used 
it to a large degree. How direct and personal this fact 
alone made this lecture ! Further, it is also the first lec- 
ture of a German theologian, in which the words of the 
original of the New Testament, as soon as this was ac- 
cessible, were spoken and explained. Here Luther 
stands before us a scholar strictly scientifically trained, 
making use of the foundation laid by the past as far as 
they prove trustworthy to him and at the same time utiliz- 
ing every progress in knowledge and scientific tools as 
soon as they are at hand, well versed in the application 
of the method and the whole apparatus of the Human- 
ism." Meissinger 46 makes us acquainted with the mean- 
ing of "Glossse" and "Scholiae" in Luther's lectures. We 
are given a characterization of his lectures on the Psalter, 
Romans and Hebrews, an investigation concerning the 
position Luther took over against the Vulgata, and con- 



Luther's Development from 1512-1517 51 

cerning his consideration for the Hebrew and Greek text 
— Luther took up the study of Hebrew before Greek; 
the Greek New Testament (Edition of Erasmus) he used 
for the first time in 15 16 in connection with Romans IX. 
Meissinger further attempts a list of Luther's first 
library. 

The whole question of Luther's theological develop- 
ment is taken up by Dieckhoff, J. Picker, W. Braun, A. 
W. Hunzinger, H. Hermelink, Scheel, Kawerau, J. v. 
Walter, A. V. Mueller; besides these investigations cer- 
tain passages in Loofs's History of Dogma, Boehmer's 
"Luther in the light of recent research," and O. Ritschl's 
History of Protestant Dogma must be compared. 47 Un- 
happily we cannot enter into details at this time. It is 
apparent, however, that there were four main factors 
that played the influential part in Luther's theological 
development during these years : Occam's school of the- 
ology of which Luther was an adherent, his reading of 
Augustine, his study of Paul, and the German mysticism. 
Hermelink in 1912 includes everything that has been ac- 
complished during the last years, when he writes in his 
History of Reformation (Krueger, Handbuch der Kirch- 
engeschichte, second volume, p. 63), as follows: "We 
must begin in all likelihood with the Occam school of 
theology, with which Luther first became acquainted. He 
will always have this school to thank for the strong ac- 
centuation of the will in the idea of God, for the begin- 
ning of his understanding of faith as building upon posi- 
tive facts of revelation and mistrusting reason. The 
moral undertone in the way of salvation, as the School 
of Occam taught it, aided in multiplying his inner rest- 
lessness. The tension between reason and faith, self 
and the will of God is intensified, and, for the time being 



52 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

solved, through the reading of Augustine, whose earlier 
writings, tinged with New-platonic ideas, Luther at that 
time preferred. The mysticism that he gained from 
these, together with that complete metaphysical ethical 
dualism that has its origin in ancient philosophy, he 
brought into full play in his exegesis on the Psalter. A 
further means of consolation is the fides incarnationis 
that is found in Augustine, i. e., the stress laid on the im- 
portance for salvation of Christ's life and passion. This 
is emphasized even more through the study of Anselm and 
Bernhard (the 'happy trade' of sin and grace between 
Christ and the soul). Finally, his opposition against the 
moralism of his time that tended toward Pelagianism 
was another chain that bound Luther to Augustine." 

"What Augustine wrought in the mind of Luther was 
immeasurably intensified through the study of Pauline 
ideas and Paul's opposition against nomism and ergism in 
every form. In the Pauline idea of SAPE Luther finds 
his experience with concupiscence confirmed. Now, I, 
justificatio=absolutio=non imputatio peccatorum; 2, 
gratia is identified as justificatio==misericordia dei= 
nova nativitas, quae dat novum esse. Semper adhuc justi- 
ficamur et in justificatione sumus. Simul sum peccator 
et Justus; 3, fides— fides evangelii=relativa promis- 
sioni, per quam solam deus justificat. Synergistic state- 
ments are still to be found in the lectures on the Psalms, 
and more rarely in the commentary on Romans. German 
mysticism, Tauler and Theologia Deutsch especially (new 
edition by Mandel), helped strongly to overcome this. 
The pantheistic conclusions of mysticism were completely 
crowded into the background through Occam's idea of 
God, intensified through the Gospel. The last link in the 
chain, not the first — as was formerly supposed from state- 



Luther and the Indulgence 53 

ments of Melanchthon — was the certainty of salvation, 
whose clear expression Luther had wrought out during 
his study of Romans." 

Herewith the main factors in Luther's development are 
correctly mentioned, even though Walter is right when he 
advises, not as yet to conclude this investigation. Braun's 
work has been the most instructive among those alluded 
to. Mueller's book one time aroused a great deal of ex- 
citement. He directs a very sharp attack against Denifle, 
and on the strength of a very wide knowledge concern- 
ing mediaeval theology, attempts the proof that Luther's 
doctrine of concupiscentia, etc., did not have its origin 
in Luther's "soiled" mind, but that much rather it is an 
expression that dates back to a once celebrated old school 
that had the sanction of the Church, and which even at 
Luther's time had many adherents on the Catholic side, 
so that in reality Luther brought no "innovation," but 
only a "renovation," and that the papacy of that time is 
much rather to be called the "apostate" instead of Luther. 
However, Mueller did not prove very satisfactorily that 
Luther was acquainted with this theology. Nevertheless, 
it was pretty confounding evidence and challenged to 
closer investigation in this direction. 

7. Luther and the Indulgence 

Luther could hardly have begun with his lectures on 
Romans, in which he fought his way to the absolute cer- 
tainty of salvation when Pope Leo gave his sanction to 
the Mainz Indulgence on the 31st of March, 15 15. It 
had always been accepted heretofore that the Pope gave 
his sanction to this Mainz Indulgence, in order that half 
of the funds might place Albrecht in a position to defray 
the huge sums paid to the Roman See for his confirmation 



54 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

as archbishop of Mainz, which method of procedure 
would have been scandalous enough, and which would 
have furnished plenty of proof that the indulgences were 
a means unscrupulously employed to fill the treasuries 
of the Vatican. But the investigation of the dealings 
of the House of Fugger, the Pope's banker, that trans- 
acted all of the papal business at that time in Germany, 
Hungary, Poland and Scandinavia, by the Catholic Alois 
Schulte 48 disclosed very clearly that the papal business 
was even much more sordid. Not only did Albrecht have 
to pay the Pope the sum of 12,000 Dukaten (= ca $60,- 
000) as regular fee for confirmation as archbishop of 
Mainz ; but it was hinted to him that he could never unite 
the archbishopric of Mainz with the bishopric of Halber- 
stadt and the archbishopric of Magdeburg without paying 
a further sum of 10,000 Dukaten (about $50,000) ; only 
then could the rules forbidding such unification of offices 
be set aside. And Albrecht conceded. So in the end the 
much-mooted simony was committed by the Pope him- 
self ! In order to gain the sums for this unholy business 
it was Rome itself who intimated to the young Albrecht 
that the best way would be to sell indulgences in Mainz 
and Brandenburg, send half of the money thus acquired 
directly to Rome, the other half indirectly as a payment 
for the sanction of three bishoprics existing under one 
head! It is fairly astonishing what conditions Alois 
Schulte discloses in his book. 

What was the nature of indulgences? On this subject 
also many disclosures have been made in the last thirty- 
five years. We name especially the works of Bratke, 
Dieckhoff, Brieger, Ditterle and the one by the Roman 
Catholic Paulus. 49 Although Protestants were at first a 
little too much blinded by Catholic statements according 




Luther in his later years. 
Painting by Cranach. 



Luther and the Indulgence 55 

to which these indulgences were much less harmful than 
they were once thought to be, and that they only excused 
the purchaser from punishments demanded by the canons 
of the Church, yet in the end it was acknowledged that 
the old definitions were in the main correct. 

The Church as a matter of fact did distinguish theo- 
retically between the purchase of an indulgence and the 
absolution as declared by the priest in Confession. The 
latter could be an absolution from culpability, or of the 
punishments exacted by the Church, or of the divine pun- 
ishments for sin in time and eternity. But because this 
absolution was often granted by priests who accompanied 
the indulgence-vendors, and thus occurred at the same 
time when a purchase of indulgence was made ; and be- 
cause from the end of the 14th century the indulgences 
were also called indulgences for punishment and culpa- 
bility (poena et culpa) and praised as an atonement of 
man with God, it can be readily understood that the com- 
mon people generally were of the opinion that on these 
occasions they had the opportunity, not only to receive 
indulgence for punishments, but also for culpability. For 
the common man did not know that theoretically the 
Church had bound together freeing from culpability with 
Confession and Absolution ; he could only form his judg- 
ment according to what he saw. What he really saw was 
something that savored strongly of the open market- 
place, a business where Confession played a very much 
subordinated role, especially since attritio was considered 
enough. Although Tetzel, who was commissioned for his 
special trade, and of whom Paulus treats in a monograv- 
ure (1889), 50 later after his acquittal, taught that the in- 
dulgences "served solely in the case of punishment of 
sins that had been repented of and confessed," yet his 



56 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

instructions read, outside of indulgence for punishment 
of sin, of the plenaria omnium peccatorum remissio, and 
without repenting one could buy an indulgence upon the 
presentation of which any promiscuously chosen priest 
was forced once during lifetime and in the hour of death 
to grant to the professor a general absolution. 

In the same way an indulgence for the dead could be 
had, for "as soon as the money clinked in the bottom of 
the chest, the souls of the deceased friends forthwith 
went into Heaven," was, according to Prierias, actually 
preached as "mera et catholica Veritas." Therefore, it 
was no trivial issue on which Luther's battle began; it 
was an institution, representative of the entire system 
which brought it forth, and because of whose abuses the 
entire world suffered. 

Concerning particularly that indulgence connected with 
the Castle Church at Wittenberg, P. Kalkoff treats in his 
"Ablass und Reliquienverehrung an der Schlosskirche zu 
Wittenberg" (1907). 

8. Luther's Ninety-five Theses 

To the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, 
Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses. As far as these 
are concerned, in addition to the already mentioned 
writing of Bratke, the publications of Koehler and 
Brieger come into consideration. 51 Koehler presents all 
the documents from the nth century to the Indulgence 
Decretal of Leo X on the 9th of November, 15 18, that 
are necessary for the understanding of the indulgence 
controversy, so that every one can form an estimate for 
himself. And then he arranges the Ninety-five Theses 
so that, alongside of the individual theses, he can give 
Luther's own explanation in the "Resolutiones" and the 



Luther's Ninety-Five Theses 57 

contradictions of the Roman theologians. Brieger, on the 
other hand, has given close study to the systematical ar- 
rangement of the Ninety-five Theses. 

Because the systematic arrangement is by no means 
so clear at the first glance, we shall here reproduce it, as 
Brieger thinks it to be (according to Hermelink, 
Geschichte der Reformation, 191 2) : The first seven 
sentences constitute the introduction and offer the funda- 
mental definition of repentance (the life-long pcenitentia 
vera interior that is demanded by Christ is distinguished 
from the sacramental act of Penitence : it finds its ex- 
pression in mortificationes carnis, Theses 1-4), that of 
punishment (5), and that of culpability (6-7). The first 
main passage, Theses 8-29, treats of purgatory in a dou- 
ble respect. First, the relation between the idea of poena 
canonica and poena purgatorii (8-19) : negatively 8-13 
(morituri legibus canonum mortui iam sunt), and affirma- 
tively 14-19 (spiritual interpretation of purgatory, which 
serves to increase love and decrease fear). Then the 
relation of the pope to purgatory is investigated in 20-29 : 
negatively in 20-24 (the pope can only excuse from the 
punishment he himself has exacted, therefore not from 
the punishment of purgatory), and affirmatively in 25-29 
(the papal suffragium is dependent upon the will of God). 
The second main passage (30-80) deals of the indul- 
gences for the living. Theses 30-55 contain contents and 
subject-matter of the indulgence sermons (30-35 criticism 
of indulgence sermons, 36-40 positive declarations begin- 
ning with the premises of the Catholic doctrine of peni- 
tence; 41-52 the right form of indulgence sermons and 
the one solely wanted by the pope; 53-55 its non-value 
compared with the other parts of divine service). Pro- 
ceeding from the practical into the dogmatical, we are 



58 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

brought to the discussion in Theses 56-66 on the 
thesaurus. The criticism in 56-59 and the positive dec- 
laration concerning the Gospel, and the merit of Christ as 
the real claves and thesaurus ecclesiae (60-62) are taken 
together in ringing anti-theses (63-66). In conclusion 
the authorities of the Church are reminded of their duty 
in further pairs of anti-theses (67-80). The Ninety-five 
Theses are concluded in twofold manner: in 81-91 Luther 
gathers all the old protests from the laity against the 
hawking of indulgences and in 91-95 in ringing words 
about the evil motive for purchasing indulgences escap- 
ing from the salubrious suffering in repentance — he leads 
back to Theses 1-4. 

9. Rome's Procedure Against Luther, 1517-1520 

The action of the Roman Church against Luther that 
followed and that ended with his excommunication, has 
taken an entirely new aspect as a result of the newer 
investigations. That Luther's opponents, like Tetzel, 
Wimpina, Eck et al., already from the very beginning 
entered the lists against Luther without reserve, and 
were prepared, because of his doubts about the popularly 
accepted indulgence doctrine, to call him an heretic, to 
cause him to be excommunicated ,and to send him to the 
stake, all of this was known. But the opinion seemed to 
hold sway that Rome itself, as the highest ecclesiastic 
Authority, had for years indulgently or indifferently with- 
held its judgment in the face of all these charges. Karl 
Mueller, Alois Schulte, and, above all others, P. Kal- 
koff, 52 place us in a position now to know that the Papal 
See, on the contrary, forthwith and in suspicious haste 
did everything in order, after the first refusal to retract, 




The old Luther.' 

Woodcut by Joerg after Cranach. 



Rome's Procedure Against Luther 59 

to smash the new progressive with the severest Church 
punishment, and, that through diverse, and sometimes 
even politically influential measures, it worked to the end 
to get him into its power. 

The results of these important discoveries are briefly 
summarized by Kawerau in the third edition of his 
"Geschichte der Reformation und Gegenreformation" 
(Moeller, Kirchengeschichte, Vol. Ill, 1907). Kalkoff 
himself treats of this minutely and very excellently, be- 
sides his special studies in the Zeitschrift fuer Kirchen- 
geschichte (Vol. 32), later published in book form, in 
his introduction of 186 pages for the second volume of 
the Muenchen-Edition of Luther, when he presents this 
entire period under the following headings: 1, The his- 
tory leading up to the Indulgence Controversy (pp. 9-21), 
the controversy itself and Rome's first steps against 
Luther (pp. 22-44), the first Roman suit in the actual 
process (pp. 45-54), the summary procedure (pp. 55-69), 
the hearing at Augsburg (pp. 70-84), awaiting the bull 
carrying the ban (pp. 75-95), election and ecclesiastical 
armistice (pp. 96-114), the coming reformer (pp. 115- 
127), the second Roman process against Luther and the 
Elector (pp. 128-158), the opposition of the Elector and 
the great reformatory writings of Luther (pp. 159-186). 

We shall briefly sketch the course of events. On the 
same day, when Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door 
of the Castle Church at Wittenberg, he also sent a letter 
to the archbishop of Mainz protesting against the man- 
ner in which the indulgence traffic was carried on. The 
archbishop, however, fearing that Luther's opposition 
would seriously hinder the sale of indulgence and that 
thus his revenues would be severely diminished, reported 
the matter to Rome. His report was a letter of informa- 



60 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

tion rather than of complaint against Luther. Pope Leo 
X. put the whole matter into the hands of Cajetan, his 
advisor in questions concerning faith and doctrine. That 
keen-sighted cardinal readily recognized that the point at 
issue in Luther's theses and other writings was not merely 
his rejection of indulgences, but also two other proposi- 
tions of very great importance, (i.) that natural man has 
no power to do what is really good and acceptable to God ; 
(2) that the sinner is justified before God and saved 
alone through faith in Christ. Soon after, it was on 
December 8, Cajetan submitted his opinion on the whole 
controversy in his "tractatus de indulgentiis." The pope, 
however, thought it wise to wait for further information 
on Luther before he called him to account. 

The desired information soon arrived. Tetzel suc- 
ceeded in mobilizing his order, that is the order of Do- 
minican monks, against Luther. The Dominican brethren 
lent their assistance all the more willingly because they 
were filled with envy, when they saw how Luther drew 
large numbers of students to Wittenberg, and how 
through him the Augustinian order forged ahead to honor 
and respect. Under the leadership of Doctor Rab, prior 
of the Monastery of St. Paul in Leipzig, to which Tetzel 
himself belonged, the Dominicans held a meeting of dem- 
onstration in Frankfurt a. O., and here decided vigorously 
to press the charge of heresy against Luther in Rome. 
And because they possessed a shrewd representative in 
Nikolaus von Schoenberg, the Dominicans at first gained 
their purpose. A papal letter was promptly addressed to 
Staupitz, Luther's superior, commanding him to force 
Luther to recant. Staupitz passed the demand of the 
pope on to Luther without any comment of his own. 
Luther answered May 31, 15 18, "I teach men to trust in 



Rome's Procedure Against Luther 61 

Jesus Christ and not in their own merit, consisting of 
prayer and other good works. Because we can be saved, 
not of our own strength, but alone through the mercy of 
God. I can not refrain from this." It now seemed as 
if Tetzel's prediction would come true, that in a few 
months Luther would be burned at the stake, especially 
since it was at this time, that Luther published a German 
tract for the common people in which he attacked indul- 
gences and declared that the vicarious death of Christ and 
repentant faith were the true way of salvation. Yes, with 
a letter and other expressions of his grace and good will, 
the pope even tried to turn the Elector of Saxony into a 
willing instrument of Rome, who would, either deliver 
Luther, or at least divest him of his professorship. And 
the Dominicans were even preparing to take him prisoner 
on his journey to Heidelberg, where he was required to 
appear toward the end of April before his superiors. But 
the Elector turned a deaf ear to all the allurements of 
the pope and more and more looked with favor on Luther 
and his teachings, and therefore provided most carefully 
for Luther's safety on his journey to and from Heidel- 
berg. And in Heidelberg itself, where Luther was to be 
called to account before his order, and where he was to 
be delivered into the hands of the hangmen of Rome, in 
case he did not recant, by God's grace he was privileged 
to present the principles of his own theology in extended 
outline before his brethren of the Augustinian order and 
before the Dominicans who had come to hear him. 
Luther emphasized that true theology was not to be taken 
from the books of men, but out of the Book of God, Holy 
Scripture, and that the central thought in Holy Scripture 
was, ( i ) man can do nothing that is really good and so 
appear righteous before God; (2) there is no other way 



62 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

by which we can be freed from guilt and the dominion of 
sin, than through faith in God's grace, faith in Christ, 
and Him crucified. And this "theology of the cross" 
Luther defended with such power that the Dominicans 
did not succeed in forcing him to deviate even a hair's 
breadth from his convictions. The brethren of his own 
order did not even think of insisting on a revocation, but 
in part even took sides with him. 

Upon his return from Heidelberg to Wittenberg, Luther, 
in the beginning of June, published a defence and a care- 
ful exposition of his theses in Latin and sent a copy to the 
pope in order that he might be able to judge correctly 
if Luther really were a heretic. In an accompanying let- 
ter to the pope Luther contended that the fact that he 
was a Doctor of Divinity, an honor bestowed upon him 
through papal power, gave him the privilege to take part 
in public disputations on all great questions. He also 
made mention of the flagrancies of the indulgence preach- 
ers who, in the way they carried on their traffic, only 
seriously harmed the Church. Out of all this the Roman 
authorities heard but the one word, "I cannot recant." 
Meanwhile Luther appealed to the whole nation in a tract 
written in German, in which he insisted that he ought 
not be denounced as an heretic before his case had been 
carefully investigated and closed in these words, "I am 
not so presumptuous that I place my opinion above that 
of all others, nor am I so unmindful of my duty that I 
would sacrifice God's Word for the sake of the fables 
of men. Jesus Christ lives and reigns yesterday, today 
and forever." This confirmed the Roman authorities in 
their unwillingness to make even the smallest concession. 
The Dominicans again pressed their charges against 
Luther before the Papal See and insisted upon prompt 



Rome's Procedure Against Luther 63 

action against him. Commissioned by the pope, Sylvester 
Prierias, a Dominican, submitted an opinion on Luther's 
teachings on the basis of which it was decided that inside 
of 60 days Luther must appear in Rome personally to 
defend himself. 

Luther and his Elector had hardly begun to take a 
stand over against the summons, when because of a third 
report by the Dominicans, a veritable network of lies, and 
also because of various political events, the authorities 
in Rome decided to employ even still harsher measures 
against Luther. Hardly 16 of the 60 days had passed, 
when without further notice Luther was declared a her- 
etic and put under the papal ban in case he did not recant 
and immediately respond to the summons. Cajetan, who 
during these weeks represented the pope at the Diet of 
Augsburg in 15 18, was to get the dangerous Wittenberg 
monk into his power. Yes the authorities even considered 
the idea of proceeding against the Elector if he continued 
to shield Luther. It seemed as if Luther were lost. But 
God so changed the political situation that the pope sud- 
denly was obliged to depend on the good will of the 
Elector of Saxony if he hoped to carry out his plans. 
And the Elector improved the situation to protect Luther. 
This was the reason why the sentence which had been 
passed was not carried out, and why Luther, instead of 
being obliged to go to Rome, was permitted to defend 
himself before Cajetan at Augsburg. 

Thus we can see how promptly and energetically Rome 
proceeded against Luther, that the Dominicans took a 
leading part in the affair, and that Cajetan had already 
formed his opinion of Luther and his teachings before 
he met him at Augsburg. He is also the author of the 
Decretal on Indulgence of 1518, and he also provided for 



64 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

its German translation and its wide circulation among the 
German people. 

We see now especially what an important role Elector 
Frederick the Wise 53 played in the first period of the 
Reformation, and that Kolde did not estimate him 
highly enough. It is true that from the very first, when 
Luther was called to Heidelberg in order to be seized and 
sent to Rome, he accorded Luther protection, and it seems 
that he was finally and completely won over through 
Luther's great writings of 1520. Brieger says: "The 
stand of the Wettinian was of importance for the whole 
further development of the history of the world." Next 
to God, it is due to the religious conscientiousness and 
diplomatic firmness of this really wise "Fabius Cunctator" 
that the Reformation was not nipped in the bud. It is 
clear now, too, that up until now the activity of Miltitz 
which took place in this period has been entirely misun- ,„ 
derstood. He, as far as his intrusion into Luther's trial 
is concerned, acted solely upon his own initiative, in order 
to hinge about a trial under the jurisdiction of the arch- 
bishop of Trent. Because this had become pretty well 
known, it is easy to understand why Luther cared so little 
for the promise to keep silence that he gave Miltitz. 54 

That the Disputation at Leipzig had bearing on the 
procedure against Luther is a fact long ago established; 
Seitz, however, published (1903) this debate for the first 
time in its authentic form, and Brieger later (1909) dwelt 
on it in a special article. 55 

In June, 1520, the pope signed the bull "Exsurge 
Domine," in which Luther was threatened with excom- 
munication. It was this bull that Luther burned on the 
10th of December, 1520. We now have six sources relat- 
ing the burning of the bull. They are : 1, the exhortation 



Luther's Theology, 1517-1520 65 

to the students of Wittenberg of the 10th of December, 
1520; 2, Luther's letter to Spalatin, written on the same 
day; 3, the paper, "Acta exustionis antichristianorum 
decretalium," written by a pupil and adherent of Luther, 
who was present at the burning, and who also heard 
Luther's speech during lectures the following day ; 4, the 
report of the bishop of Brandenburg; 5, a sketch of 
Agricola of the 10th of December, who had been present 
at the burning — made accessible by Perlbach in 1907; 6, 
the sketch of John Kessler in his "Sabbata," who had also 
been present. On the strength of these sources it seems 
probable to Clemen that Melanchthon was the "magister 
quispiam haud incelebris" who kindled the fire, and that 
the words with which Luther committed the bull to the 
flames, which had not been clearly understood hereto- 
fore, were not: "Quia tu conturbasti sanctum domini, 
Ideoque te conturbet ignis aeternus" — thus in the "Acta" 
— nor: "quoniam tu conturbasti veritatem dei, conturbat 
et te hodie ignem istum, amen" — thus with Agricola — 
but : "Because thou hast damned the truth of God, there- 
fore He condemns thee to the fire. Amen." For that 
reason it is condemnat and condemnasti instead of con- 
turbat and conturbasti.™ 

10. A Few Points of Luther's Theology, 1517-1520 

It is known that during these affairs with Rome the 
thought that the pope was the Antichrist gained more 
and more prominence with Luther. In how far he was 
influenced in this particular through mediaeval thoughts at 
this time Preuss explains in a measure. Preuss also 
recently offered a contribution toward answering the 
question how many actual mediaeval beliefs still retained 
their influence on Luther during this period. 57 



66 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

The investigations concerning Luther's idea of repent- 
ance that are connected with his Sermo de pcenitentia 
(1518) can not be sketched at this time, but we at least 
refer to them, 58 and state that there is no contradiction 
when Luther, in 1518, puts the "amor justitise" first and 
the "pcenitentia" second, and when he later on maintains 
faith and love can only arise after the "terrores con- 
scientiae" have been produced, because the viewpoint is 
an entirely different one. 

By means of Luther's first debate on ethical matters 
Stange aimed at emphasizing the truth, that in all of 
Luther's debates with Rome on matters of faith there 
were always at the same time ethical views of the deepest 
importance involved. 58 

In connection with the circumstance that on the occa- 
sion of the Leipzig Disputation a new idea or definition 
of the Church presented itself to Luther, Rietschel de- 
voted himself to the question of Luther's definition of 
Church. 58 

Through the three great Reformation writings of 
I520 58a and through the burning of the bull, Luther sev- 
ered all relations with Rome, before the real bull of ex- 
communication (Decet Romanum Pontificem) was an- 
nounced in Rome the 2d of January, 1521. 

11. The Diet at Worms 

We now understand much better the Diet of Worms 
and everything connected with it. After Kolde wrote 
his excellent monogravure in 1883, A. Wrede presented 
us with the complete minutes of the Diet whereas Brieger 
and KalkofI devoted themselves especially to the study of 
Aleander's dispatches. 60 Already Kolde and later on 
Baumgarten had used these dispatches of the papal 



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Letter of indulgence for the benefit of building St. Peter's Church at 
Rome made out for the widow Katharina von Trebra at Gehofen and 
her sons, Hans and Konrad in the name of the archbishop of Mainz 
on the third day of March, 1517, signed by the notary public Heinricus 
Kappe. With seal attached. 



The Diet at Worms 6y 

nuncio Aleander as the main authority in Luther research 
work as far as this diet was concerned. Brieger pre- 
sented these letters by using the manuscript of Trent and 
by comparing it with the original jottings of Aleander — 
in the archives of the Vatican at Rome — and thus an- 
swered the question as to their chronological sequence. 
But it was Kalkoff who in 1886 gave them to the world 
in a trustworthy translation, which because of their orig- 
inal text — half Italian, half Latin — made them accessible 
for the first time to wider circles. Written by an excellent 
judge of men who was directly influenced by the great 
events and who stood in the midst of the excitement and 
tension occasioned by the fight, entirely unreserved in his 
estimate of men and conditions, these dispatches of 
Aleander to the vice-chancellor, Julius de Medici, later 
on Clement VII, allowed their writer to give full play 
to his wagging tongue, and revealed unabashedly the in- 
spirations of his unscrupulous wit, the arousing of his 
fanatical hate and the little expression of his egotism, of 
his wounded vanity, cowardice and meanness. Thus these 
dispatches bring home to us fully how severe a test these 
days were for Luther and the business of God's King- 
dom. Aleander tried everything to prevent Luther from 
being invited to the Diet, and when this failed, he again 
used every means to make Luther's appearance as harm- 
less as possible. 

Kolde has closely investigated the Emperor's Herald, 
Kasper Sturm, who escorted Luther to Worms, 60 and so 
has made us acquainted with him for the first time. At 
the same time he has also made it appear probable that 
it was no other than this herald who wrote the first 
anonymous circular, which within a brief space of time 
reported Luther's trial. 



68 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

Groessler, and later Spitta, have again broken a lance 
in behalf of the belief that Luther composed his hymn 
"Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott" on his way to Worms — 
cf. what follows. 

The reports concerning the treating with Luther here 
can be found in the "Reichstagsakten" by Wrede, with 
which the work of Kalkoff is to be compared. 

As is known, Luther denned his decisive answer as 
one "without horns and without teeth" a responsum 
neque cornutum neque 'dentatum. Meissinger directs 
close attention to this answer in a special article. He is 
entirely convinced that Luther formulated his answer in 
Latin. Whether he repeated it in German we, according 
to Meissinger, do not know ; at all events we have no 
German text. Luther thought in Latin when he used the 
expression, "neque cornutum neque dentatum." The offi- 
cial of the Emperor's court had required of Luther a 
"responsum non cornutum," having in mind with this an 
old word used in Logic, an expression of a "syllogismus 
cornutus" ; therefore he wanted an answer that was devoid 
of ambiguity and sophistry. 59 Luther accepts this word and 
says : "Yes, I shall give you a responsum non cornutum, 
as you demand it." But because this expression cornutus 
reminds Luther of the student who, according to their 
initiation ceremony, had horns placed upon his head and 
then again taken off, when he lost his position, and be- 
cause that student was also represented as a monster with 
huge teeth, Luther enlarges upon the words of the official 
of the court, saying: "I shall not only give you an 
answer devoid of ambiguity and sophistry, but one that 
is also lacking in the horns and teeth, known from the 
students' ceremonial." It seems, as if suddenly a mood 
of spirited recklessness possessed Luther. This explana- 



The Diet at Worms 69 

tion may appear strange at first sight, but it fits in well 
with the Spanish report on these events — "Reichstags- 
akten" II. 636, 20 — in which we are told that Luther 
left the place in a joyous, even petulant mood. 

The other and much more important expression used 
by Luther in his speech : "Convictus testimoniis scrip- 
turarum ant ratione evident e" has given use to all sorts 
of speculations. In consequence of this the conclusion 
has been drawn that Luther at this time during the climax 
of his activity, recognized two entirely independent au- 
thorities or sources for the certainty of salvation, Holy 
Scriptures and natural reason. On the one hand it was 
inferred herefrom that Luther is the father of liberal 
Protestantism, whose source of knowledge is not only 
the Bible but also reason ; on the other hand, that in this 
point lies the necessary progress made at the Wartburg 
since the days of Worms ; that in the quiet of the Wart- 
burg it dawned upon Luther, that the Bible could be the 
only source of the certainty of salvation. Only those can 
speak in this manner, who are but casually acquainted 
with the Luther of Worms, for the sola scriptura had 
been an established fact for him much earlier. At all 
events, it was a valuable service that Preuss rendered us 
through his investigation concerning this expression, pub- 
lished in 1909. 60 He gives the uses of autoritas (scrip- 
tura) et ratio, before Luther, then carefully analyses them 
by giving Luther's use of them up to 1521, according to 
which ratio not only represented to Luther, in general, 
the power to think, nor is it to him only a name for the 
method of thinking inherent to the natural man in con- 
tradiction to spiritus, gratia, evangelium, etc., but in 
reality also a name for logical conclusions, for logical 
deductions from acknowledged premises. In this last 



jo Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

sense he used this word at Worms : — he demands to be 
convinced through the words of Holy Scriptures or 
through such conclusions as necessarily must be deducted 
from what has been stated in Scriptures, before he will 
retract 

It is by no means certain what Luther's concluding 
remarks were. The well known word, "Here I stand, I 
cannot otherwise; God help me! Amen!' are only to be 
found in a few, not especially trustworthy, sources. 
Lately K. Mueller, 60 especially, investigated what the 
original might have been, after it had already been the 
object of researches — for instance, by Koestlin, Kolde, 
Burckhardt, et al. According to Mueller these conclud- 
ing words consisted very likely in only, "God help me ! 
Amen." These hardly sound as defiant as those formerly 
accepted, but the main thought in Luther's speech is not 
these words, but that which precedes them, and of that we 
are absolutely certain. Thus we see Luther now as the 
herald of a freedom of conscience conditioned alone by 
the Word of God, a man who has ushered in a new era. 

How Frederick the Wise through masterful silence and 
delays in decisions protected Luther and how Aleander 
worked toward the proclamation of the Edict of Worms, 
can be understood best through the study of Kalkoft", 60 
although Brieger has also done his share in this direction. 
KalkofT has also described the influence exercised upon 
the events by Capito, and, therefore, by the Archbishop 
Albrecht. He also has proven that it was none other than 
the humanist, Herman von der Busche, who was the mov- 
ing factor in the proclamation of the "Lutherans," 
through which the attempt was made to counteract the 
edict on the 20th of April. When the edict, under a 
questionable date, had been published with the appear- 




Title page of the book 'Von der babylonischen Gefangenschaft der 
Kirche', 1520. 



Luther on the Wartburg Ji 

ance of having been accepted by the complete representa- 
tion of the Empire, 60 Luther had long since been made a 
captive on his way home and carried to safety in the 
Wartburg in accordance with a plan of which he was 
informed already in Worms — cf. the letter which he 
wrote at Frankfurt to Cranach. 

12. Luther on the Wartburg 

Concerning the importance of Luther's sojourn at the 
Wartburg we have a good dissertation from the pen of 
the able historian Max Lenz. 61 

At the Wartburg Luther began to translate the Bible 
into German. It was W. Walther, who for the first time 
made us acquainted with what the declining Middle Ages 
possessed in the way of German Bibles in a methodically 
correct and very thorough manner. It was a truly 
monumental work that Walther gave us in his "Die 
deutsche Bibeluebersetzung des Mittelalters," 1889- 
1902. Together with 202 manuscripts W 7 alther brings to 
light, from the 55 years, 1466- 1 521, 18 complete, printed 
German Bibles, 22 Psalteries and 12 printed productions 
of other biblical books. With this enough material was 
placed at our disposal to answer the question, whether 
Luther's translation was original work or only a revision 
of older German Bibles. A resumption of this not exactly 
modern question was again necessitated through the ac- 
tivity of the church historian Kraflt in Bonn, 1883, 62 who 
contended that the latter answer was the correct one, and 
whose contention was at once spread all over by the 
Catholic Church as the absolute result of investigation — 
cf., especially the article on Dietenberger, that Wedewer 
wrote in 1884 for the Catholic "Kirchenlexicon von 
Wetzer u. Welte," and his monogravure of 1888 on 



*]2 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

Dietenberger. The Catholic Church wished at the same 
time to hide from view the unwelcome yet absolute truth 
that the Catholic Bibles of the 16th century by Emser 
and Dietenberger are only thinly-veiled copies of Luther's 
translation made to conform to the Vulgata ; it could even 
contend that this "deadly parallel" between the Catholic 
Bibles and Luther's translation was not a sign of their 
dependency upon Luther, but rather the proof that they 
had used the same source as Luther, namely, the German 
Bible of the Middle Ages. 

This beautiful theory was then so thoroughly exploded 
by W. Walther 62 that we can hardly understand how an 
American church historian, who demands to be taken at 
face value and who contends that he can give an entirely 
different meaning to the Reformation by reason of his 
completely exhaustive study of all possible sources, dares 
to revive once more this old question in almost childish 
fashion. 63 Either he never made the acquaintance of 
Walther's production or he did not let its truth sink in 
deeply enough. For Walther shows how just in all those 
places, where the use of the mediaeval Bible through 
Luther must have shown itself, granted that Luther used 
it at all, — for example, in difficult passages, — that just 
there entirely different translations are to be found, dif- 
ferent not only as to the words used, but also as to the 
method of translation in respect to style as well as to 
syntax. Parallels only show themselves there where the 
renderings — especially in the historical books — might, be- 
cause of their nature, be alike, without being copied. If 
Luther really was acquainted with the Bible of the Middle 
Ages, he did not use it. During the first phase of his 
translation work, and the one that gave the work its 
characteristics, he was not acquainted with it, as we can 



Luther on the Wartburg 73 

state with a reasonable degree of definiteness. Only later 
he became acquainted with it, and then, as we can see 
now, in his revisions and corrections he occasionally sup- 
planted his own word with one from it. 

Keyssner 02 had already before Walther compared the 
three versions of the Psalters from 1524, 1528 and 1531 
with each other, and in this way made interesting dis- 
coveries as to Luther's translatory activities. Kawerau 
says concerning this: "Keyssner shows how Luther, in 
his sympathy for rhythm in language, fairly searches for 
an expression at the beginning and end of a Psalm, that 
recommends itself because of its depth of meaning and 
euphony. He shows how Luther, with his intuitive sense 
for the right term, chooses from the synonyms that are 
at his fingertips, how he translates the alien illustrations 
of the Oriental so that they are understood by the Ger- 
man mind or how he entirely discards them, in order to 
create the Bible for the Germans." 

Before Luther began with the translation of the New 
Testament he completed the first parts of his Epistle and 
Gospel Postil. G. Bossert and Koehler 64 have treated of 
the origin of this Wartburg Postil in thoroughgoing 
investigations ; later on Koehler edited it as a part of 
the Weimar Edition in exemplary fashion (Vol. X, 1). 
In Vol. X, 2, he will give us a valuable introduction. 

To the time of Luther's sojourn at the Wartburg also 
belongs his writing on the vows of the monks. Scheel 04 
not only edited this work in German, as has been stated 
before, but he also furnished for it a very careful com- 
mentary, which played great havoc with the contentions 
of Denifle against Luther, based on this work of Luther. 

So much of that which we know from Luther's Wart- 
burg sojourn explains that Luther was by no means 



74 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

entirely free from the vulgar superstitions of his time, 
although we also know that this circumstance does by no 
means entirely explain many of the things that come into 
consideration here. Just this influence that the vulgar 
superstitions exercised upon Luther, Klingner 64 made the 
object of special study. He shows how these ideas, by 
no means, caused him to appear contemptible, but how 
in reality his firm belief in the reality of the Devil, 
through whom God inflicts his salutary punishments upon 
man, and how his idea of the mightiness of Satan were 
for Luther a stimulant for a continual fight against evil, 
as he found it within and without himself, and an incen- 
tive for the good, for the perfection of others and himself. 
Therefore they are integral parts of the religious side 
of his personality and closely interwoven with the work 
of his career. How insufficient this view of Klingner 
may be, for according to Scripture the idea of the Devil 
is neither only a vulgar superstition nor only a term used 
in pedagogical interests, we nevertheless welcome his 

writing. 

13. Luther and the Scriptures 

One can not well differentiate between Luther's resi- 
dence on the Wartburg and his attitude towards the 
Scriptures. Not, indeed, because Luther here learned to 
look upon the Scriptures in a new relation, so that not 
until now they became for him the only source of re- 
ligious knowledge. This proposition already crumbles 
into dust in view of the sources that were generally avail- 
able prior to 1883, and to maintain it now is to become 
guilty of an historical falsification for the sake of one's 
construction. Undritz already wrote a splendid article 
on the development of the Scripture principle with 
Luther during the earlier years of the Re forma- 



Luther and the Scriptures 75 

tion. But it is Preuss who in a perfectly trustworthy way 
suffers us to follow this development to the minutest 
detail. He begins with the rule which Staupitz, 1504, laid 
down in his statutes for cloisters : "The novice shall 
gladly read the Scriptures, devoutly hear them, and dili- 
gently learn them," and closes with a searching investi- 
gation of the statements made by Luther at the Leipzig 
Disputation, 15 19. To follow Luther farther than to this 
point is unnecessary, for with the Leipzig Disputation the 
Reformer had actually reached the position from which 
he did not deviate the rest of his life. viz. : The Scrip- 
tures are the only source of religious knowledge. Already 
in 1518 he wrote: "Even if all the holy teachers had 
held this or that, they are as nothing over against one 
single passage from the Scriptures" (Weimar Ed. 1, page 
384). The last day of the Leipzig Disputation his final 
statement was his confession of the authority of the 
Scriptures, for he concludes : Doleo, quod d.d. ita pro- 
funde pcnctrat scripturas sicut tippida aquas: immo 
videtur fugere a facie earuni sicut diabolus crucem, quare 
salvis reverentiis patrum praefero ego auctoritatem scrip- 
turac, quod commcndo judicibus futuris (Weim. Ed. 2, 
p. 382). In his "Contra malignum I. Eccii judicium M. 
Lutheri Defensio" of the same year he proves this his 
position over against the Scriptures with the declaration 
of their inerrancy, for he reaffirms the words of St. 
Augustine: Ego solis eis libris, qui canonici appcllantur, 
Jiunc honor cm dcferre didici, ut nullum scriptorem eoruni 
errasse firmissime crcdam (Weim. Ed. 2, p. 626 ff.). In 
his "Operationes in psalmos" of 1 519 he already made the 
famous declaration: "Quid est papa? quid mundusf quid 
princcps mundi? ut propter eum veritatem evangelii, pro 
qua Christus mortuus est, negcm. Valeat, qui valet; 



j6 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

pereat, qui perit; ego sic sentiam deo propitio semper 
(Weim. Ed. 5, p. 452). 64a The question "Scripture or 
reason," as well as the combination "Scripture and rea- 
son," were a priori impossible for him a disciple of 
Occam, for with Occam he looked upon the human 
"ratio" as the most uncertain factor. Kropatscheck and 
especially Seeberg have emphatically asserted this, and 
their assertion has been ably seconded by O. Ritschl. 64a 

It is quite another question at what time and in which 
measure the Scriptures became of importance for 
Luther's personal religious life. His lectures on the 
Psalms and especially on the Epistle to the Romans now 
put us in a position to gain more reliable data. Scheel, 
Thimme, O. Ritschl, and Tschackert inform us on this 
score. "Tota justitia hominis ad salutem pendet ex verbo 
per fidem;" "Vera justitia fit credendo ex toto corde 
verbis Dei;" "Quando verbo eius credimus. Per tale 
credere nos justificat i.e. justos reputat;" "Sola reputa- 
tione miserentis Dei per fidem verbi eius justi sumus" 
we already read in his lectures of the Romans. The 
gospel for him is no longer the "nova lex" as during the 
whole of the Middle Ages, but the means of grace, "nun- 
tius bonus." 643 - 

We now can readily trace how he gradually progressed 
from the allegorical interpretation of Scripture to the his- 
torical, which emphasizes the "sensus literalis" even 
though he never fully abandoned the former. Zoeckler, 
Grundt, and Eger have discussed this as well as his posi- 
tion to the Old Testament. Not later than 1520 we 
already read the sentence: "Scriptura sacra ipsa per se 
sui ipsius interpres" (Erl. Ed. v. n. 5, p. 160). Espe- 
cially in his book against Emser, 1521, he energetically 
defends the "grammatical" or "historical" sense of the 



Luther and the Scriptures J J 

Scriptures as the only correct sense. "The Holy Ghost 
is the simplest writer and speaker in heaven or earth ; 
hence His words can not have more than one simplest 
meaning, which we call the written or literal sense (Zun- 
gensinn)." "The Scriptures must not have a twofold 
meaning, but must retain only the one expressed by the 
words" (Erl. Ed. 27, p. 259-262). 64a 

How the attempt has been made to get much capital 
for a freer position of Luther towards the Scriptures out 
of his expressions concerning James, Hebrews, the 
Apocalypse, etc., is well known. But it is scientific levity 
to do so. Careful research will ever find, that the books 
recognized by him as canonical, under all conditions were 
regarded by him as the authoritative Word of God, but 
that he differentiated between these and such which he 
did not without more ado accept as God's Word, simply 
because he did not regard them as canonical. It is a 
matter, therefore, of two entirely different spheres. For 
this reason it is not correct to ascribe to the former what 
is said of the latter. That Luther in his doubts over the 
canonicity of this or that book during the transition period 
from the Middle Ages to the Reformation did not stand 
alone, that the conception of canonical writings was not a 
firmly fixed conception as it largely is today, is clearly 
shown by Walther and Leipold, whilst Walther and 
Kawerau have also investigated the question of Luther's 
(and other's) final opinion of James. 64a 

What position did Luther take towards the writings 
recognized by him as canonical, did he merely assert their 
inerrancy in religious matters or also extend this to his- 
torical, physical, etc., matters? Walther in Rostock has 
shown that Luther's position here, too, was much more 
conservative than nearly all presentations care to admit. 64 * 



78 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

If time and strength permit, the writer will express 
himself more in detail on Luther and the Scriptures in the 
near future, in order on his part to preclude the attempt 
even of theologians of the American Lutheran Church 
to defend their own lax positions over against the Scrip- 
tures by appealing to Luther. 

Even though Luther's residence on the Wartburg did 
not in any way involve a new position of the reformer 
towards the Scriptures, yet the undisturbed and careful 
study of the same, which he here could undertake, could 
only fortify the position which he had already gained. 

14. Luther and the German Language 

Since the question concerning Luther's influence on the 
German language is closely related with the question con- 
cerning Luther's Bible, and Luther's work on the Ger- 
man Bible began with so much promise on the Wartburg, 
the most important results of the work done during the 
past thirty-five years to get a better understanding of this 
phase of Luther's life work, may be noted at this place. 

In 1868 the Catholic V. Hasak published his book: 
"Der christliche Glaube des deutschen Volkes beim 
Schlusz des Mittelalters dargestellt in deutschen Sprach- 
denkmalen." By means of this collection of sources he 
attempts to show that the claim, Luther is the creator of 
modern High German, is entirely without foundation in 
fact. Others, both before and since, for inst. the well 
known Scherer, and Hasak himself in his later work: 
"Dr. M. Luther und die religioese Literatur seiner Zeit 
bis zum Jahre 1520" (Regensburg, 1881) assumed the 
same position. And, of course, all those writers who 
think that Luther's Bible translation rests on the pre- 
Lutheran German versions (compare IV, 12 and foot- 



Luther and the German Language 79 

notes 62 and 63) are of the same opinion. For the Roman 
Catholic literary historian Anselm Salzer (Illustrierte 
Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, Muenchen, 1906, if.) 
this matter is settled. And Gutjahr also strongly operates 
with a modern High German unity in language ("Einheits- 
sprache") prior to Luther. The one-sided manner in 
which in certain sections the "fact is emphasized that the 
'language-unifying process began long before Luther and 
was ended long after him' already threatens to lead to an 
undervaluation of Luther's merits on this score before 
these are even fully understood," R. Neubauer wrote in 
1903. In opposition to the well known saying of Jacob 
Grimm : "Luther's language because of its almost won- 
derful purity and powerful influence must be regarded 
as the very pith and marrow of the new High German 
language deposit, in which to the present day there has 
been very little variation, and then only at the expense of 
its power and expressiveness. The new High German 
can indeed be termed the Protestant dialect, whose free- 
dom breathing nature has long since, unknown to them- 
selves, conquered poets and authors of Catholic faith," — 
this lofty evaluation of the services of Luther in behalf 
of the German language has been characterized as a 
"Protestant legend" (compare P. Pietsch, Luther's 
Werke, Weimar Ed. 12, p. VII). 

Among the men who have carefully investigated this 
question Burdach and Pietsch, the Germanistic co-laborer 
in the Weimar Luther edition, deserve especial mention. 
The most and the best which Protestant theologians in 
their scientific works on Luther's Bible adduce from the 
philological point of view can directly or indirectly be 
traced, according to Risch, to the work by Pietsch, 
"Luther und die neuhoch deutsche Schriftsprache" 



8o Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

(Breslau, 1883). This amply characterizes the import- 
ance of this publication. Next to Burdach and Pietsch 
the brief but carefully weighed and splendidly instructive 
dissertation of Neubauer demands special consideration. 
It contains so splendid a characterization of the language 
of the Reformer that we have appended it almost un- 
abridged 640 in the foot notes. And Risch enlarges on all 
of the pertinent questions, putting into bold relief the 
problems in questions and also detailing the work still to 
be undertaken. 641 * 

That Luther did not newly create the language which 
he used as far as its externals, its grammatical cloak, is 
concerned, is evident. He himself also says so. In this 
sense a single individual can not create a language. He 
meant to be understood by the German people and this 
conditioned the existing language as his starting point. 
And he studied it, if ever it was studied. The spoken, 
written, and printed language of his people was ever 
during his lifetime the object of his closest observation 
and study. As late as 1536 he instructs Linck to purchase 
everything of "German pictures, rimes, songs, books, 
master-songs" to be had in Nuernberg, and send it to 
him for the purpose of study. He compiled a collection 
of German adages for himself, which was first edited for 
us by E. Thiele. He listened and learned from the Ger- 
man people what was to be learned. 64b 

Modern research has ever more shown how much of 
German literature was in existence prior to Luther. Of 
course the lifted treasures have not yet been carefully 
sifted and studied. Yet Kluge, Pietsch, Daumer, Schuett, 
Boehme, and others have begun to study this field. The 
limits of this research work, however, must ever be more 
extended. The question, just in how far the various Ger- 



Luther and the German Language 81 

man chief dialects prior to Luther have found a unifica- 
tion ("Einigungssprache") has been made the subject of 
careful research by Burdach. Virgil Moser, 1909, has 
collected everything what research work has thus far 
evolved. Yet he is not quite just to the linguistic import- 
ance of Luther. And that Gutjahr succeeded in an even 
lesser degree has already been mentioned. Alfred Goetze 
essayed the attempt to create an "Early High German 
Glossary" on the basis of independent reading and de- 
tailed study of the early High German literature and 
the various dictionaries of Swiss, Bavarian, Alsatian, 
Suebian, etc., dialects, a work which notwithstanding its 
brevity we always used with profit. 64b 

And now in what relation does Luther's language stand 
to the language prior to him? Did he simply receive 
it and pass it on ? Or did it become a new language under 
his hands, which became the standard for the future? 
Did he take some particular dialect and develop it, leaving 
aside whatever of good and beautiful is contained in the 
others, thereby consigning them to lingering death? Or 
did he take the good and beautiful and assimilate it, 
thereby giving it residence in the German language? 
Burdach answers : "Luther's genius was the 'awakening 
sun' that shone over the development of the modern High 
.German." Pietsch in the preface to volume XII of the 
Weimar edition, 1891, says : "One of the most important 
phases of the national importance of Luther is doubtless 
to be found in the fact that with his care and his influence 
he strengthened the young shoot of the common language 
to such an extent that it gradually grew to a tree over- 
shadowing the whole of Germany." 64b 

Neubauer arrives at the same conclusion. He writes : 
"Ever since the 13th century the need became apparent, 



82 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

and various circumstances during the 14th and 15th cen- 
turies tended to a unification of language: the ground 
was prepared. And this all the more so, since that very 
German, which through Luther's pioneer work was des- 
tined to be the mediator, the Middle German, had since 
the 14th century, where the literary center of gravity had 
shifted from the South to Middle Germany, received a 
greater literary importance than in the past and more 
and more had assimilated upper German elements. The 
ground was prepared. It only needed the awakening 
sun. And we owe it to the masterful personality of 
Luther, his stupendous genius for language, the skillful 
selection in the use of his language and its masterful 
manipulation in his Germanizing of the Bible, the pro- 
found influence and the astounding dissemination of the 
latter, which soon became a popular book — originally dili- 
gently read and re-read by thousands for the sake of its 
contents, but like a secret master of language doing in 
quiet a slow but successful work in house and hut — that 
the incipient movement making for a unification of lan- 
guage increased in momentum, and that "Luther's Ger- 
man" finally became the unifying language for literature 
and cultured intercourse. In so far Luther is the founder 
of the modern High German language. On the one hand 
he gave to his language a certain type, which embodying, 
as it did, certain elements of different dialects, afforded 
a possibility for further and more comprehensive lin- 
guistic unification, and on the other hand his genius quick- 
ened this language, enriched it, gave it flesh and spirit and 
life, and thus enabled it to discharge the lofty duty that 
fell to its lot" (1. c. p. 8). 

At another place Neubauer says : "In truth there was 
no book prior to Luther in which 'the kind of German 



Luther and the German Language 83 

language was contained.' During three centuries the 
language was neglected, crude, inflexible; degenerate in 
forms and syntax, irregular and without deeper spirit, 
it lacked the ability for expressing the finer and more 
delicate sentiments, it lacked soul and nobility. For this 
reason the more refined, the humanists looked upon it as 
'barbarous' and felt scandalized to use it.* 

Even those who spoke and wrote the most elegant and 
artistic Latin, men like Erasmus, Melanchthon, and even 
Hutten, wrote a crude and defective German. And the 
language was blamed for what was due only to personal 
incapacity, a scholarship that weaned away from nation- 
ality, or a lack of heart for one's own people and language. 
With Luther things took a turn. In him the master had 
arisen, who recognized that the German language pos- 
sesses all those elements which were regarded as lacking, 
and that it only remained for some one to bring them to 
the light of day. He recognized the princess in the 
scorned Cinderella, rescued her from her despised hum- 
bleness, rinsed her beautiful eyes and noble countenance 
of the ashes and the dirt of common servitude, took from 
her her vile rags, clothed and decorated her in the habili- 
ments of wealth and royalty, so that her inherent walk 
and attitude of quality, her beauty, virility, and elasticity 
of youth, and her entire nobility became radiantly ap- 
parent. And the despised and nearly degenerated as a 

* Kluge has adduced the testimonium paupertatis which the 
Archbishop Berthold of Mainz, 1486, influenced as he was by- 
humanism, has given to the German language. To substantiate 
his prohibition of religious and biblical literature in the German 
language he wrote: Fateri opportet, idiomatis nostri inopiam 
minime sufficere necesseque fore, translator es .... veritatis 
sensum corrumpere. 



84 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

result is endowed with the proud name 'chief and hero 
language' (Haupt-und Heldensprache). It is literally- 
true what Justus Jonas in his funeral sermon declares 
of Luther: 'He has rehabilitated the German language, 
so that now we can again distinctly speak and write'" 
1. c. p. I2f.). 

Risch remarks : "Luther was bound to find the proper 
word for the new and great that filled his heart, that filled 
the heart of the people, though they were unable to clothe 
it in words. His wonderfully developed genius of lan- 
guage almost always enabled him to find what he sought. 
And the moment he had found the word he also gave to 
the concept included therein an explosive power of pene- 
trating effect. One must clearly visualize this mental 
revolution with its psychological results for the linguistic 
expression of the masses, who stood in the midst of the 
stream, in order fully to appreciate Luther's importance 
for the history of language." "The stronger projection 
of the dialect during the 15th century plainly reveals how 
the politically disjointed Germany also cultivated but little 
of mental touch and intercourse. And the international 
character of humanism was even less in a position to 
afford the people the mental unity. Only the imperial 
chancery felt the need of a uniform German written lan- 
guage understood by all. But the chancery on the other 
hand was too little in touch with the people, and possessed 
too little influence among them, to bring about a healthy 
and vigorous linguistic movement. The great and unify- 
ing thought, that joined the north and the south was lack- 
ing, the mastering and ponderous gravity of a great per- 
sonality, who knew how to press the German language 
into the service of a great cause, over which every Ger- 
man could enthuse. In order to realize this great aim 



Luther and the German Language 85 

among the German people, Luther was forced to bring 
the many beginnings for a popular and unified language 
to their full development. And he was the right man" 
(1. c. p. 137x191). 

In order to understand somewhat the tremendous in- 
fluence which Luther exerted upon the German language, 
the whole flood of German writings poured by Luther on 
the German people must be considered. But in the fore- 
front there stand his translation of the Bible, and, as 
Risch has again justly pointed out, his Small Catechism. 
Pietsch's bibliography appended to the "German Bible" 
in the Weimar edition of Luther's Works, enables the 
student to gain a reliable conception of the distribution of 
the Luther Bible up to Luther's death. In the beginning 
only parts of the Bible, principally the New Testament, 
were brought to the masses through the printeries. In 
1522 three original prints were issued and 22 reprints. 
In 1524 eight editions in Wittenberg were followed by 39 
reprints. That was the culmination point. In the years 
following the ratio of original editions to reprints is the 
following: 1525, 3 to 22; 1526, 7 to 25 ; 1527, 3 to 21 ; 
1528, 4 to 15; 1529, 1 to 13. During the years 1530 to 
1540, 34 Wittenberg editions were followed by y2 reprints ; 
1 541 to 1546 Pietsch enumerates 18 Wittenberg editions 
and 26 reprints outside of Wittenberg. During the period 
of 1534 to 1584 Lotter's press alone is said to have sent 
out no less than 100,000 complete Bibles among the peo- 
ple. All told Pietsch treats of 84 original editions and 
253 reprints, among which many double editions are 
counted as one. And if an edition is put at not less than 
1,000 copies and not more than 5,000, and if the number 
of reprints is multiplied accordingly, it affords a glimpse 
of the stupendous distribution of the German Bible at 



86 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

that time, and also indicates the singular and unique 
influence of Luther's Bible German on the German lan- 
guage. And only then is this fully understood when we 
consider (i) that the Bible was read in every Church 
service (matins, common service, vespers, weekday serv- 
ice), and thus also became part and parcel for those of 
the people who could not read, or were too poor to pur- 
chase a copy of their own ; (2) that the Low German edi- 
tions as to their language; and (3) that the Catholic 
Bibles (the Swiss Bibles also) as to their language were 
largely dependent on Luther's Bible, so that all circles 
of society stood directly under its influence. Compare 
herewith the investigations by Byland, Bachmann, Lind- 
meyr, Schroeder, Schaub, Jellinghaus, Neubauer, Risch, 
Breest. 64b 

Risch in his comprehensive essay (compare also. 
Kuehn) calls attention to the fact that the student in fol- 
lowing the "German Bible" in the Weimar edition can 
not only trace how Luther in the course of time much 
better commands the text, but also ever better and with 
increasing skill handles the German language. Here the 
development of the modern High German can be dis- 
cerned as nowhere else, and one also sees his genius for 
language and his fidelity in the work for the language of 
his people in all its wonderful uniqueness. Overwhelm- 
ing and humiliating alike it stands forth in bold relief. 

Next to the translation of the Bible the Small Cate- 
chism claims attention, to show Luther's influence on the 
German language. This was recited daily in the homes, 
and read in nearly every service. It was the first and 
only German reader for many. It was committed 
to memory by all people. In many ways Luther's 
genius for language here is even more apparent than in 




Title page of the book 'Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen', 
1520. 



Luther and the German Language 87 

his Bible translation. Gillhoff has written a splendid 
booklet .on this subject, of which we quote several pas- 
sages in the footnotes. 640 

Alfred Goetze calls attention to the influence of 
Luther's hymns in forming the German language. In 
our period Luther's language has been treated in its 
entirety by Franke, briefer but good by Neubauer. The 
lexicon for Luther's German writings by Dietz has unfor- 
tunately been left incomplete. Luther's influence on the 
German sequence of words, syntax, and above all things 
vocabulary, and the development of the meaning of 
words, in spite of the wealth of material in Grimm's Ger- 
man dictionary and Paul's German dictionary, has not 
yet been presented in its continuity. The close relation- 
ship between Luther's Bible language and Goethe's Ger- 
man has been demonstrated by Hehn. Brief yet compre- 
hensive is the splendid characterization of the influence 
of Luther upon German literature given by Alfred 
Goetze in "Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart" 
III, column 2256. Column 2260 he also mentions 
Luther's well known edition of Aesop's Fables (1530 or 
1538), and justly finds in it the incentive for the fables 
of Erasmus Alber. He writes : "The book of Erasmus 
Alber, 'Von der Tugend und Weisheit' (1534), charac- 
terized by the pleasant art to mould a simple material 
into a rich and animated picture, would never, perhaps, 
have been written, if Luther through his own work with 
Aesop had not given to this most faithful among his 
disciples the prototype for the fable. Thus Alber's work 
also is but a monument for Luther's merits in behalf of 
German poesy." 



88 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

15. Luther's Return to Wittenberg 

The upheaval in Wittenberg during March, 1522, 
caused Luther to return. The question whether Luther 
returned upon his own initiative or whether he thought 
at the same time that the Elector, while desiring his return, 
did not dare to voice his wish publicly because of political 
considerations, has been much discussed during the last 
decade. This was especially the case since Barge, in his 
lamentably one-sided, over-estimation of Carlstadt 65 and 
the things he started at Wittenberg, called Luther an "ad- 
ministrator of the Justice Department," who, in agree- 
ment with his prince made null and void the promising 
beginning of the "fruehreformatorischen Gemeindechris- 
tentums." Already before Barge Kawerau 65 had ex- 
pressed the thought that Luther returned in accordance 
with the wish of the Elector, but von Bezold and, espe- 
cially, K. Mueller 65 refused to let it stand, not even as 
far as it alone was concerned, arid much less as Barge had 
represented it. Nikolaus Mueller 65 then pictured the 
entire Wittenberg movement in a work that distinguishes 
itself because of its detail and minuteness. 

Several months after his return to Wittenberg Luther 
wrote his well-known and blunt answer to the charges 
made against him by Henry VIII of England — cf., 
Walther's monogravure on this' subject. 66 

16. Luther's Endeavors to Build up Evangelical 
Congregations, 1523-1529 

After his return the time had arrived to arrange an 
evangelical order of Divine Service, and to take into 
consideration the organization of congregations and en- 
tire regions that had severed connections with Rome. So 



Evangelical Congregations 89 

in 1523 he published his "Formula Missae" and in 1526 
his "Deutsche Messe," in 1523 and again in 1526 his 
"Taufbuechlein," 1529 the "Traubuechlein," 1529 the 
two catechisms, 1523 resp. 1524 the evangelical hymn- 
book, admonished in 1524 to erect evangelical schools, 
took an active part in the visitation of churches and 
schools in the Electorate of Saxony in 1528-29, and ad- 
vised Bugenhagen, when he went to Braunschweig and 
other cities, to introduce there a new and evangelical 
order of the entire church affairs. 

Gottschick, Gruenberg, Hans, Achelis, Rietschel and 
others attempted to state what views Luther held con- 
cerning an evangelical Divine Service. 67 

In order that the German Service might also possess 
a German hymnary, Luther not only called on others to 
compose German hymns, but also applied himself to this 
task. And, although about forty years of age, he still 
became the author of quite a number of the most precious 
church hymns. This view had obtained pretty generally 
at least 67 until a short while ago, even though Groessler 
contended more and more steadfastly that at least "Em' 
feste Burg" was traceable to April, 1521, to his journey 
to Worms. It was due to Spitta, 67 however, that many 
who held this view, became otherwise convinced and 
accepted the one Spitta offered, to wit, that we possess 
hymns from Luther that already date back to his student 
years, to the time of his spiritual unrest as a monk, and 
to the days of his early reformatory activity. The more 
careful historians of the Reformation, however, have up 
until now abstained with due cause from giving this 
theory their support. 

Thanks are due to F. Zelle 67 for a thoroughgoing work 
on the first hymn-books that contained Luther's hymns. 



90 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

Phil. Wolf rum and Zelle 67 have also made us better ac- 
quainted with them in respect to their melodies and mu- 
sical setting. 

Kawerau, Althaus and Rietschel devoted themselves 
to the study of Luther's Order of Baptism. Kawerau's 
study especially is of lasting value, because he brought 
to light quite a number of the "Ordines Baptismatis" of 
the end of the Mediaeval Period and compared them care- 
fully with Luther's Order of 1523. 67 

Luther's conception of .married life and his views about 
betrothing and the solemnization of marriage were often 
treated before 1883 ; in our period H. von Schubert, in his 
book "Die-evangelische Trauung, ihre geschichtliche Ent- 
wicklung und gegenwaertige Bedeutung, 1890," has again 
taken up this question. 

In 1524 Luther called upon the council members of the 
German cities to establish schools. It is the most thrilling 
appeal that was ever made in the interest of higher edu- 
cation and Christian training of the youth. "It is every- 
where well understood," says Luther, "what is to be done 
in the way of protection against Turks, wars and floods, 
and what has to be expended annually for arms, good 
roads and levees ; so much money has heretofore been 
squandered for indulgences, masses and pilgrimages. 
Why not give part of this for educational purposes and 
a training of the young? If you give one 'gulden' for the 
war against the Turks, a hundred are not too much, if 
spent to educate a good Christian." On this writing 
Albrecht* 58 published a minute and valuable study, which 
became still more valuable through the fact that Schiele 68 
later, starting out from an opposition justifiable in itself, 
tried to undervalue Luther's service in the interest of the 
public school through gross exaggeration. Of course, it 



bulla rfitra rrrarts 

MARTINI LV THER1 ET 
SEQ.VACIVM. ■ 




Bull against the errors of Martin Luther and his 
Followers! 

In the center the coat of arms of the Medici, to 
which house Pope Leo X belonged. Five balls 
and three lilies of Florence. Also the triple 
crown of the pope and the keys of St. Peter. 
From a print of 1520. 



Evangelical Congregations 91 

is the Latin School that Luther desired to be erected 
and safeguarded first of all — and the present writer 
knows of three hundred German cities that between 1524 
and 1600 erected new schools or rearranged them on new 
principles — but that Luther also referred to the common 
school, at least in the cities, is indicated by his demand 
for a minimum instruction of two hours per day for 
boys and one hour for girls. The "Kuesterschule" of the 
Reformation period is the kernel out of which is grown 
of whatever we have to-day of Christian common schools. 

It was in his "German Mass" that Luther declared 
catechetical instruction of the young a necessary part of 
an evangelical Divine Service. "One of the principal 
parts of a right German order of worship is a plain and 
good instruction of the youth," he said. Here he also 
illustrated in a remarkable manner, in which way chil- 
dren could be brought to a correct understanding of the 
Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer. It 
is the merit of Ferdinand Cohrs 69 and the Society for the 
History of Education in Germany that more than thirty 
catechisms published between 1522 and 1528 were again 
made accessible, the majority of which was brought forth 
by this appeal of Luther. 

Buchwald has shed new light on Luther's own cate- 
chetical work. 69 We now can follow his endeavors on 
this line from 15 16 up to 1529, and must be astonished 
over the amount of time and work Luther devoted to 
the instruction of the young and the uneducated. He 
explained to them the Ten Commandments, the Creed, 
the Lord's Prayer, later on also the Sacraments in ser- 
mons and in writings of all kind ; he even gathered them 
in his house in the evening and expounded to them the 
meaning of these texts in such a plain and simple way 



92 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

that even the weakest ones could grasp the evangelical 
truth. Buchwald, Knoke and Albrecht, 69 by means of 
new discoveries and most thorough and extensive investi- 
gations in a conclusive way, made us acquainted with the 
origin of the two catechisms, with the form in which the 
Small Catechism was at first published, with the different 
editions up to Luther's death, with its translations into 
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, English, etc. Compare 
the author's article on the "Religious Instruction During 
the 1 6th Century" in the Lutheran Church Review 
of 1915 and 1916. 

That through the publication of his "Passionale" in 
1529, Luther became the father of Bible story instruction, 
is covered by my article in "Kirchliche Zeitschrift" 
(1906), and the little book has been made known again 
through the second part of my "Quellen zur Geschichte 
des kirchlichen Unterrichts." 69 This last-named work 
also carefully traces the great influence which Luther's 
catechism had into the most distant portions of Germany 
and beyond. Hardeland presents the rich thoughts that 
are hidden in all of Luther's catechetical writings, and 
Meyer shows plainly how the Large Catechism grew out 
from the three series of Luther's sermons on the cate- 
chism-texts of 1528. 69 

Luther was the advocate of an entirely new relation 
of the evangelical congregations that now arose all over 
Germany towards the State. Sohm, Kolde, Branden- 
burg, Koehler, Drews, K. Mueller, Holl, Hermelink and 
Waring aim at making us acquainted with this view of 
Luther of the State and its relation to the Church, as well 
as with the dream of founding ideal congregations that 
was once dreamed by him. 70 Space does not permit to 
dwell longer upon this matter. May it suffice to say 



The Years of Separation 93 

that the principle of the freedom of the Church as well 
as the freedom of the State, so dear to us Americans and 
so fundamental for the sound development of the future 
of our nation, was laid down by no one else than by 
Luther. 

17. The Years of Separation, 1524-1530 

The year 1 524-1 525 was replete with many different 
kinds of weighty decisions for Luther. In the first place 
there was the Christian-socialistic revolution, as it mani- 
fested itself in the Peasants' War ; the immoderate spirit- 
ualism of the Anabaptists, the Catholic humanists such 
as Erasmus ; and even now the dispute with Zwingli and 
others on the Eucharist had begun. 

Stolze, Boehmer, Stroele, Sommerlad, Vogt, Solle and 
v. Bezold 71 present all the material necessary for a full 
understanding of the situation that led to the Peasants' 
War and made it so difficult for Luther to take the cor- 
rect position. By means of their writings it also becomes 
apparent why Luther necessarily had to separate him- 
self from the peasants. Riggenbach, v. Nathusius, 
Lezius, and Seeberg have very excellently portrayed the 
deep sympathy which Luther at all times had for the 
social question of his days. 71 

The great difference that separated Luther from the 
fanatic Anabaptists is duly emphasized by the works of 
Gruetzmacher and Walther. 72 Walther makes clear how 
far here again most important principles were involved, 
principles which even to-day are the dividing wall be- 
tween sound historical Lutheranism and all branches of 
the Reformed Church. Gottschick, Hegler, Scheel, Otto, 
and Sachsse, 72 however, ought to be compared. Scheel 
has published anew the important writing of Luther, 



94 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

"Wider die himmlischen Propheten," this vigorous treat- 
ise of the Reformer against every phase of nomism that 
does not understand the great difference between Old and 
New Testament, and against all enthusiasm that loosens 
the soul from the firm foundation given by the word. 
Wappler 72 raises the question in which sense we can 
speak of liberty of creed and conscience during the Ref- 
ormation period, and makes plain the tenacity with 
which the Anabaptists, even in Thuringia, held their own 
for a long time. 

Burckhardt, Lezius, Richter, J. von Walter, Zickend- 
rath and others 73 cover the relations between Luther and 
Erasmus, and whoever studies these publications should 
be convinced of the necessity of Luther's separation 
from Erasmus. They belong to two entirely different 
periods, and their religious and moral convictions stood 
in direct opposition to each other. We understand readily 
that Wernle (Die Renaissance des Christentums im 16. 
Jahrhundert, 1904, p. nff.) and Troeltsch (Die Kultur 
der Gegenwart, 2 ed. Leipzig, 1909, IV, 1 p. 473ff.) 
judge Erasmus entirely differently and pronounce him 
"Den groeszten Bahnbrecher der Renaissance des Chris- 
tentums im 16. Jahrhundert"; but this only shows, as 
Hauck correctly says, how so many representatives of 
modern theology have forgotten the objectiveness that 
to Ranke was the necessary requisite for historical judg- 
ment. All the greater is the debt we owe to J. von Walter, 
who opposed these views in a very able manner. Walter 
has again also edited the "Diatribe" of Erasmus, and 
Scheel has offered us Luther's "De servo arbitrio" in a 
new translation, together with a good introduction and 
many explanatory notes. The essays of C. Stange are 
also to be noted in this connection. 73 



The Years of Separation 95 

On the dispute between Luther and Zwingli, W. Wal- 
ther 74 has shed new light. He discloses the dishonest 
methods to which the opponents of Luther constantly 
resorted during the Eucharistic controversy, and thus 
he explains the feeling of distrust Luther had for Zwingli 
and his brothers in arms. Jaeger and Thimme emphasize 
the religious interest Luther had in the Real-Presence, 
whereas Grsebke shows the construction of the Lutheran 
doctrine of The Eucharist in its development, but hardly 
with sufficient accuracy. 74 

In 1529 the Religious Discussion at Marburg took 
place. Kolde, in Hauck's "Realencyklopsedie," has fur- 
nished us the best treatise on this remarkable occurrence. 
In his "Augsburger Konfession" 75 he has also made easily 
accessible the text of the Articles of Marburg. H. von 
Schubert 75 showed that the Articles of Marburg were 
not prior to the Articles of Schwabach, as was formerly 
thought; that rather the Articles of Schwabach were 
fundamental to the Articles of Marburg. The Articles 
of Schwabach very likely were already written by Luther 
in June, to serve as the basis for a common confession 
of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Nuernberg and Saxony (cf. 
also Schornbaum's writings 75 ). Luther took them to 
Marburg, where they were divested of some of their 
darts against Zwingli. 

The separation from Zwingli and his friends was kept 
up at Augsburg. Through Kolde's investigations 76 we 
have gained a concrete idea of how much of the August- 
ana was placed before Luther, and of what great dimen- 
sions Melanchthon's lamentable yielding to Rome really 
was. We now realize all the more why Melanchthon so 
seldom sent a report to Luther at Coburg, and we can 
assume that Luther had fulfilled his promise, or rather 



g6 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

threat, to go himself to Augsburg if he had known how 
much Melanchthon at one time was ready to give up. 
Burkhardt 76 informed us about the route of travel the 
Elector and Luther took to Coburg, while Buchwald 76 
discovered and published some of the sermons Luther 
delivered during his second exile, i. e,, at Coburg. The 
most important one is the sermon of the 2d of October, 
in which he touches the Diet of Augsburg and expresses 
his unshakable confidence about the future: "Fuerehte 
sich denn der" Teufel," he said, "wir wollen uns nicht 
f uerchten ! Die Stunde und Zeit wird kommen, dass die 
Weisheit und Gewalt, darauf sie jetzt pochen, wird da- 
hingehen, dass wir sagen werden: wo sind sie nun?" 

18. Luther's Marriage, Home and Health 

In 1525, i. e. } in a year full of important crises for the 
further development of his life-work, Luther entered the 
"holy estate of matrimony." He was fully aware of the 
daring of his step, but he was also convinced of its 
correctness, and it was to him really a part of his work 
of Reformation. A. Thoma and E. Kroker 77 portray 
the life of his wife, Katharina von Bora, thus affording 
us a glimpse into Luther's domestic life. By his marriage 
Luther became the founder of the evangelical parsonage, 
this rich source of intellectual and religious life, this 
home of good music, of genuine art and of all what is 
pure, lovely and good. Luther's close relation to art and 
artists is sketched by P. Lehfeldt in "Luther's Verhaeltnis 
zu Kunst und Kuenstlern," 1892. Compare also W. Baur, 
"Das deutsche evangelische Pfarrhaus," 2 i878. W. 
Kawerau deals in general, and very learnedly concerning 
the "Reformation and matrimony." 77 

It is known that Luther was often ill during the 



The Act of Ordination 97 

thirties. It was Ebstein 77 who, in 1908, published an 
investigation into the different ailments of Luther and 
their subsequent influence on his physical and mental con- 
dition. He asserts that Luther suffered from calculi, 
constipation, piles, catarrh of the middle ear — almost 
deafness — , periostitis, stomach-affections, weakness of 
the heart, dysentery, cataract on one eye, and rheuma- 
tism! Ebstein finds that it was a particularly virulent 
kind of rheumatism which was in the main cause for his 
many pains, and acknowledges that "das ganze Ach und 
Weh" was the consequence of this sickness, even his 
corpulency. His mental work, however, was not influ- 
enced for the worse through this sickness, even though 
nervous affliction, fits of mental depression, etc., did tem- 
porarily hinder it. He was not an epileptic, or, as some 
have even said, a maniac. Through the strength of his 
will and his unflagging energy he invariably rose above 
his sickness, and until his death he remained the victor 
in a fight, whose successful termination demanded the 
greatest possible mental resistance. Thus does the great- 
ness of his genius only show itself all the more resplen- 
dent when we think of his numerous illnesses. 

19. Luther Introduces the Act of Ordination, 1535 

The more independent and organized evangelical 
churches appear, especially since 1530, the more does 
Luther disappear from the foreground. Our review for 
that same reason can from now on be also much briefer 
and of a more elective character. 

In 1 53 1 the evangelical princes and cities organized 
the Alliance of Schmalkalden. Now it was up to Luther 
to take anew a stand to the question whether the sword 



98 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

could be drawn from the sheath even against the Kaiser, 
to protect the Gospel or not. 78 Cardauns defines the posi- 
tion Luther took. 

In 1535, with the help of Luther, an order of ordina- 
tion, as we understand this term to-day, was introduced 
at Wittenberg. Originally it had not been Luther's in- 
tention to create a holy act that in any respect could be 
considered as a substitute for the Roman consecration to 
the priesthood. If the person who wished to become an 
evangelical pastor had been found worthy and capable 
(by the superintendents and visitators) and had been 
called by the magistrates (secular government), the rep- 
resentative of the congregation, the office was established 
in the single congregation; especially the latter, the call, 
was the main requisite. Often a divine service was held 
in this connection, in which the call of the pastor was J 
confirmed, in which he was introduced to the congrega- 
tion, and where under laying-on of hands, prayers were 
offered for him. All of this, and sometimes with the 
exception of the divine service, Luther formerly called 
ordination, but according to present terminology it was 
more of an introduction to the congregation rather than 
an ordination. 

But more had to be done in behalf of practical inter- 
ests. In the end of the twenties a conviction must have 
taken root among the leading circles in Wittenberg that 
it was in the interests of the relations of the clergy to 
their charges that they receive their office through an act 
of ordination. This is proved through a letter of Luther 
dated December 16, 1530, which states that because of a 
dearth of clergy they were compelled "proprio ritu ordi- 
nare et instituere ministros.' , In December, 1534, in the 
church constitutions meant for Pommerania — printed in 




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Psalm 1. 

Illustration from the second German Bible produced by the printing press. 
Printed about 1470 by H. Eggesteyn in Strassburg. It is a reprint of the 
first German Bible which was published 1466 by Johann Mentel at Strassburg. 




The Act of Ordination 99 

Wittenberg, 1535 — Bugenhagen plainly speaks of an or- 
dination that is not only an installation. 79 However, in 
Wittenberg the old custom was clung to until 1535. 

Thanks to the investigations of G. Rietschel we know 
that Luther conducted such an ordination October 20, 
1535. Buchwald quotes the address that Luther held on 
this occasion. Afterwards Drews calls attention to the 
fact that candidates were already ordained in Wittenberg 
before the 14th of August; he even calls our attention to 
a writing of the Elector of the 12th of May, in which at- 
tention is called to an edict of the Elector that those about 
to be ordained should be sent to Wittenberg, for the 
"learned men of Holy Scriptures" should ordain them. 
Drews also proves that in connection with this the candi- 
dates were no longer to be examined by the superintend- 
ents as heretofore, but by the theologians in Wittenberg. 
The faculty turned over the ordination to Bugenhagen. 
The doubts of Bugenhagen concerning the edict of the 
Elector 794 did not concern the ordination itself, but had 
their cause in his conviction, already expressed in his 
church constitution for Pommerania that the candidates 
for the ministerium should be examined by their home 
superintendents, solemnly bound to do their whole minis- 
terial work in accordance with the Word of God by their 
home bishops (or superintendents) and then be installed 
by laying on of hands and prayer in the midst of the con- 
gregation by which they had been called. 79a Although it 
was Bugenhagen who was to officiate at the ordinations, 
yet Luther often took his place. When, in July, 1537, 
Bugenhagen went to Denmark for a period of two years, 
Luther officiated regularly and began "the catalogus ordi- 
natorum," which Buchwald has published. 

The ordination generally took place on Sunday, after 



ioo Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

a sermon which exhorted to prayer for those about to be 
ordained. 

With the exception of a report of an ordination which 
we know through the Table-talk and a Latin formula for 
those unversed in German, we now possess five forms for 
the order of ordination that date back to the time until 
1539. One of these, obligatory for use in Wittenberg 
since 1539, was recast by Bugenhagen after his return 
from Denmark by using an existing sketch. Did the other 
four have their origin in Luther? Drews believed that 
he certainly had traced one to Luther, which he published 
as "the oldest formula for ordination in the Lutheran 
Church," in the 38th volume of the Weimar Luther Edi- 
tion (p. 401 if.). But later Vetter contended that this 
formula could by no means be considered the oldest, 
and that it does not date back to Luther. On the con- 
trary, it may be that the formula C — taken back by the 
preachers of Kulmbach, Schnabel and Eberhard, from 
Wittenberg to their home in 1538 — and that the formula 
F — in the minutes of the visitators of Freiberg from the 
year 1 538 — are the oldest that we possess and are directly 
traceable to Luther. 80 

20. Luther and the Wittenberg-Concord, 1536 

It was a momentous event when, in 1536, the Witten- 
berg-Concord was established between Luther and the 
upper Germans, and when Luther said: "We have now 
heard the answer and confession that all of you believe 
and teach that in the Eucharist the true body and the 
true blood of the Lord is given and received and not only 
bread and wine ; also that this giving and receiving takes 
place in reality and not in imagination; you only take 
offense, because the real presence is there also for the 



Luther and England 101 

impious. Believe what Saint Paul says that those who 
are unworthy also receive the body of our Lord, as long 
as the institution and the word of the Lord are not 
changed ; about this point we shall not quarrel. Because 
you stand thus, we are one, and we acknowledge and 
receive you as our dear brethren in the Lord." Later 
on, when the formula for the Concord had been signed, 
he said, in farewell : "Let us bury that which has hap- 
pened on both sides and weigh it down with a stone." 
Th. Kolde has given us, in the 21st volume of Haucks' 
Realenzyklopsedie a detailed account of the respective 
events occurring between the religious discussion at Mar- 
burg and the Wittenberg-Concord, as well as an account 
of these two happenings themselves. Here we also learn 
why, in spite of all this, a real union was not achieved 
later on, why even before Luther's death the dispute with 
the Swiss broke out anew. 

21. Luther and England 

In the year 1536, not only the representatives of upper 
Germany appeared with Luther in Wittenberg, but a 
deputation from England came in order to treat with the 
Wittenberg theologians. The object of their coming was 
no less important than that of ascertaining how closely 
the German evangelicals could approach the representa- 
tives of Henry VIII in doctrine, so that a nation like Eng- 
land might enter into the Smalkald Union. G. Mentz 
has edited for the first time the "Articles of Wittenberg" 
of 1536, and has therewith documentarily proven how 
dependent the 48 articles of Edward VI, and therefore, 
also the 39 articles of Elizabeth, are upon the Augsburg 
Confession. For the "Wittenberg Articles" have their 
origin in the Augustana. Many times they only quote 



102 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

literally from it. On the other hand they stand in the 
closest relation to these English confessions. All this is 
only another example of the penetrative power of Luth- 
er's influence, it reaches directly into the confessions of 
those who, to-day, boast of being a completely separate 
branch of the Christian Church. 81 

When, about 12 years previously, Tyndale completed 
his translation of the New Testament into the English 
language (1524-1525), he made copious use of Luther's 
translation. He did this work in Germany, where his 
New Testament was also printed. The first complete 
English Bible (1535) on its title-page frankly stated, that 
it was faithfully translated out of "Douche and Latyn" 
(Douche, or Dutch = Luther's German). Tyndale's ver- 
sion, though revised, is virtually our English Bible of 
today. Through Tyndale and his friends translations of 
the Bible and many Lutheran writings were smuggled 
into England and were distributed. So as not to depend 
on the Latin writings of Luther and his coworkers, how- 
ever, several of their works were translated into English. 
For instance, the first English catechism, Marshall's 
Primer, 1534 (2d edition 1535), is a translation of Lu- 
ther's "Betbuechlein," and thus also of his "Short Form 
of the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's 
Prayer" (1520), the important . precursor of his later 
catechism (confer: M. Reu, Katechetik, 1915, p. 49, and 
"Three Primers Put Forth in the Reign of Henry VIII, 
Oxford, 1848). In 1548 Cranmer published "A Short 
Instruction into the Christian religion for the syngular 
commoditie and profit of children and young people in 
England," an English version of the "Kinderpredigten," 
written by Osiander (Cranmer married Osiander's niece) 
and Sleupner and added to the "Nuernberger Kirchen- 



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Page of the Septemberbible of 1522. 



Luther and England 103 

ordnung" of 1533. These sermons for children were 
an explanation of Luther's small catechism. Kawerau 
and Jacobs have again called attention to this. 82 But 
that this catechism (or rather these sermons on Luther's 
Catechism) was one of the best explanations of Luther's 
catechism, and that it had been both translated into differ- 
ent foreign languages (into Latin by Justus Jonas) and 
used more widely in Germany than any other, has been 
first brought to light by the present writer in his "Quellen 
z. Geschichte des Kirchl. Unterrichts zwischen 1530 and 
1600." 

The English Book of Common Prayer, in addition to 
other influences, manifests a copious use of Lutheran 
forms of worship, especially of the "Koelner Reforma- 
tion," 1543, edited by Melanchthon and Butzer. 

In 1548 there appeared in England, "M. Luther's Ser- 
mon on the Keys and of Absolution on John 20:21, 22," 
translated by R. Argentine. In the same year Walter 
Lynne, a London printer, published and dedicated to the 
Princess Elizabeth, another of Luther's works, namely, 
"A frutefull and godly exposition and declaration of the 
kyngdome of Christ and of chrysten lybertye made upon 
the words of the prophete Jeremye of the same matter 
by the famous clerke Doctor Martyn Luther" . . . 
London, 1548. In the following year Lynne published 
another of Luther's writings under the title, "A briefe 
collection of all such testes of the scripture as do declare 
the most blessed and happie estate of them that be with 
syckness . . . whereunto are added two frutefull 
and comfortable sermons made by the famous clerke 
Doctor Martyn Luther." 1549. (cfr. P. Smith in "The 
Nation," Dec. 17, 1914.) 

Thus a Bible, catechism, confessions, and order of wor- 



104 Thirty -Five Years of Luther Research 

ship, borrowed from the work done by the Lutheran 
leaders or influenced by it, the first evangelical hymnal 
of England also drew from Lutheran sources. In 1539 
or earlier Miles Coverdale published his "Ghostly Psalms 
and Spiritual Songs, drawn out of the Holy Scripture." 
This includes not only a number of the psalms which were 
versified by Luther, but also some of Luther's hymns in 
a liberal version, such as "Nun f reut euch, lieben Christen 
gmein," "Komm heilger Geist," "Em' feste Burg ist unser 
Gott," etc. The latter reads, 

Our God is a defense and towre 

A good armoure and good weapon, 

He had been ever oure helpe and sucoure 

In all the troubles that we have ben in 

Therefore wyl we never drede 

For any wondrous dede 

By water or by lande 

In hilles or the see side : 

Our God hath them al in his hande. 

Indeed, during 1548 and the years following England 
had almost become a Lutheran country. 82 



22. Luther and the Articles of Smalkald, 1537 

The Council was announced in 1536. In view of this 
Luther, at the behest of the Elector, wrote his so-called 
Smalkald Articles, in a way his last will and testament. 
Zangemeister has made the original manuscript accessible, 
whereas Kolde especially shows how it came to pass that 
Luther's articles were in the end not accepted by the as- 
sembled representatives of evangelical lands and cities in 
Smalkald, and that it was decided to refer once more to 
the Augustana, Apology and Wittenberg-Concord, and 



Agricola's AnHnomism, 153J 105 

that only Melanchthon's tract on the power and primacy 
of the pope was officially added to the others. Luther 
must not have known of Melanchthon's "small conduct" 
on this occasion and of the fact that his articles were not 
officially recognized, for otherwise he could not have 
written in his preface "These have been accepted by our 
side and unanimously subscribed to, etc." It was due 
to Kolde and Virck that we know of this, whereas Thieme 
has treated of the contents of these articles in an appre- 
ciative way. 83 

Because Luther in the introduction acknowledges once 
more the symbols of the old Church, we here refer to 
Kattenbusch's writing concerning Luther's position in re- 
spect to the oecumenical confessions. 83 

23. Luther and Agricola's Antinomism, 1537 

It is known that the antinomistic tendencies of Agricola 
once more threatened to disturb the peace in 1537, and it 
is also known how Luther stood in regard to this. 
Kawerau shows that Luther was not only compelled to 
deal with Agricola in 1527 in the same matter, but that 
already in 1524 he, Bugenhagen and Melanchthon gave 
their opinion in a very similar case — concerning the 
method of preaching of the pastor in Chemnitz, Domin- 
icus Beyer. Kawerau also shows just what the final stand 
of Luther in 1537 against Agricola had been. He sheds 
new light on Agricola's character who, as soon as he had 
escaped to Brandenburg, retracted every concession made 
by him to the Wittenberg theologians and immediately 
taught his heresy in the new edition of his catechism, 
1 541. His catechism is again made accessible through the 
latest volume (1916) of the present writer's "Quellen 
z. Geschichte des kirchl. Unterrichts." 83a 



106 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

24. Luther and Philip's Bigamy, 1539 

In 1539 (10th of December) Luther gave his unfor- 
tunate "confessional advice" to Philip the Landgrave of 
Hesse concerning the latter's bigamy. It will be readily 
understood that Luther has been much attacked within the 
last decades because of this, and that the event has been 
thoroughly aired in order to drag Luther himself into 
the mire. Lenz, Koldewey, Walther, Kolde, Rockwell, 
Brieger, N. Mueller, and-Koehler have contributed much 
toward clearing up this episode and toward the correct 
understanding of Luther's action. 84 The last-named es- 
pecially has directed his attention against the never-dying 
Roman slander in this connection that Luther, having 
demanded at the Eisenach Conference (July, 1540) that 
Philip should silence this happening with a "good, healthy 
lie," a necessary lie (Nutzluege), was at all events an en- 
tirely untrustworthy and prevaricating person. It is ex- 
ceedingly strange that men have dared to consider just 
this man guilty of lying who has said, among other things, 
"No virtue has made us Germans more famous, and, as 
I believe, has elevated us higher heretofore and has kept 
us in that position, than the fact that we have been es- 
teemed faithful, trustworthy and steadfast folk, to whom 
'no' meant 'no' and 'yes' meant 'yes.' And although for- 
eign and Grecian vices are already becoming native 
among us, yet thus it has always remained that there can 
be no graver and uglier word spoken or heard than to call 
some one else a liar or to be called that oneself." 

However, Koehler errs when he traces back this mis- 
take of Luther in the matter with Philip to his theology, 
i. e., "his extreme supernaturalism." It probably orig- 
inated in this, that Luther in this case resorted to the 



Revision of His Bible, 1531-1541 107 

casuistic "morale" and held that in the end a smaller sin 
might be substituted for a greater one, instead of dis- 
carding this opinion from the very outset. Or it may be 
explained according to Hermelink, first, through the dis- 
tinct difference between spiritual and secular justice as 
it existed in Luther's conception of religion, i. e., the first 
marriage would be binding according to secular law, 
whereas the second only before God and the conscience 
of the contracting parties ; second, through practice ac- 
cording to which a dispensation could be granted secretly 
for an action that the public law prohibited. 

25. Luther and the Revision of His Bible, 1531-1541 

The year 1541 saw the completion of the revision of 
his Bible translation which he had begun in 1531, which 
gave us the German Bible as we know it today, with the 
exception of a few individual passages, the revision of 
which took place later on. What great care and work 
Luther devoted to the work of his translation of the 
Bible is now made evident by the third volume of Luther's 
"Deutsche Bibel" (Weimar Edition). Here we find the 
newly-discovered minutes of the sessions arranged by 
Luther with Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, Jonas, Cruciger, 
Aurogallus, etc., for the special purpose of revision of 
Luther's translation. Three such revisions have taken 
place in 1531, 1534 and 1539-1541. In 1531 only the 
Psalter was revised, in 1 539-1 541 the entire Bible. The 
minutes of the revision in 1534 are lost, so nothing can 
be stated positively. Reichart and KofTmane, who have 
treated the pertaining questions before, furnished the 
text of the minutes and commented successfully on 
them. 85 How interesting it is to watch now the gradual 
growth of Luther's Bible ! Risch sums up the problems 



108 Thirty -Five Years of Luther Research 

arising from the new material as well as connected with 
Luther's Bible in general. 85 Compare chapter 14. 

26. The Last Years of Luther's Life- Work 

For the years 1541 and 1542 Brandenburg published 
an investigation in which he shows how Luther was by 
no means afraid to step into the path of the Elector. 
When the Elector, in his political dealings with the Arch- 
bishop Albrecht of Mainz, patron of Halle, in regard to 
Halle impetuously pursued his own advantage, Luther 
called his attention to the sacredness of his given word. 86 

It had been popularly supposed that Luther's well- 
known hymn, Erhalt uns Herr bei deinem Wort, had been 
composed in 1541 ; but Albrecht proved that it must have 
been existent already at least in 1537, because he found it 
in the index for hymns in the church constitution of 
Naumburg of 1537. Kolde has especially followed the 
history of this hymn in "Beitraege z. bayrischen Kirchen- 
geschichte." 87 

Because Luther in 1542 once more took up his issue 
with the infidel and heart-hardened Jews, we here refer 
to Buchwald's and Lewin's work concerning Luther's 
position toward the Jews. 88 Lewin distinguishes four 
periods in Luther's stand toward the Jews. Before the 
diet at Worms Luther did not come in personal contact 
with the Jews ; what he now and then said about them is 
based entirely on the literature of his time concerning this 
people and on his reading of the Bible. At Worms he 
became acquainted with two Jews who argued with him 
about Is. 7, 14. Other Jews enter in connection with 
him, and he believes in the possibility of their conversion. 
In 1523 he published his writing, "Dass Jesus Christus 
ein geborner Jude sei," and favors the endeavor to con- 



Last Years of Luther's Life-Work 109 

vince them by means of biblical disputations. But the 
Jews did not show up. The years 1524-36 form the tran- 
sitory period. Luther had disagreeable experiences with 
Jews. These and their attacks against his Bible transla- 
tion cooled him off. In 1536 the Elector expelled the 
Jews from his territory and Luther refused to intercede ; 
in 1538 he wrote his "Brief wider die Sabbather," which 
is followed by other writings of increasing severity : "Von 
den Juden und ihren Luegen," "Vom Schem Hampho- 
ras," "Von den letzten Worten Davids," "Die Ver- 
mahnung wider die Juden." 

It has already been mentioned that in the last years of 
Luther's life new fuel was heaped on the sacramental 
controversy. The year 1545 brought another sharp at- 
tack against Rome. By means of a series of circulars 
containing pictures and satirical verses Luther waged an 
immoderate and coarse attack against the papacy. C. 
Wendeler has proved that the nauseating representation 
of the "papist-child's" birth in the most offensive picture 
was not Luther's fault, but solely that of the painter for 
Luther was only responsible for the verses and not the 
pictures. 89 

His "Pabsttreu Hadriani IV u. Alexanders III gegen 
Kaiser Friederich Barbarossa geuebt" reminds us of his 
knowledge in church history, and of what Schaefer and 
Koehler have to say concerning this. 90 From 1 535-1 545 
Luther has devoted a good deal of his time to historical 
studies. Especially in his writing "Von den Conciliis 
und Kirchen" he shows an historical knowledge surpris- 
ing by its wide range and real thoroughness. 

In 1556 Hardenberg, of Bremen, stated that Luther 
had changed his views on the Eucharist in his last dis- 
cussion with Melanchthon, and had said: "There has 



no Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

been too much ado made about the Lord's supper, etc." 
Amsdorf also accused Roerer, the editor of Luther's 
Works, of having falsified Luther's writing, "Dass diese 
Worte noch feststehen," because some of the parts did 
not agree with the original of 1524. It was rendering a 
valuable service when Haussleiter proved that Harden- 
berg's assertions were not entirely lacking in historical 
foundations, but that the fact had been much distorted 
here. The conference at Regensburg, namely, at which 
Butzer represented the Protestants, occurred at the same 
time when the second volume of Luther's German works 
was to be printed. Therefore it was the wish of the Land- 
grave Philip and the court of Electoral Saxony that in 
publishing this writing, "Dass diese Worte noch festste- 
hen," the sharp utterances directed against Butzer's tac- 
tics in the Eucharistic Controversy should be erased: 
Luther acted according to their wish, for, in the first 
place, this omission did not involve any real change in 
the doctrine, and then, Butzer's position in this matter 
itself was altered in important points (Wittenberg Con- 
cord). Luther's action therefore meant by no means an 
actual retraction; it only accommodated itself to the new 
situation and was only just and proper. 91 

It has already been mentioned that the Catholic Paul 
Majunke, 1890, once more played the patron to the old 
falsehood of 1568, that Luther died a suicide, and that 
this assertion brought forth a whole series of writings 
against it; the most important literature in connection 
with this has also been mentioned. We mention N. 
Paulus, who a Catholic scholar himself, repudiated Ma- 
junke's assertion, and B. Grabinski, Wie ist Luther gestor- 
ben, 191 3. Lately several reports on Luther's death have 
been discovered that bear upon this controversy. Dr. 



List of Auxiliary Literature in 

Spaeth published an hitherto unknown report on Luther's 
last hours in the Lutheran Church Review (1910), 
and J. Strieder made the authentic reports concerning his 
dying accessible to all in a cheap pamphlet. 92 

27. A List of Auxiliary Literature 

Finally it remains to point out what auxiliary literature 
must necessarily be used if one wishes to make a true 
and faithful reproduction of the time in which Luther 
lived and of the people with whom he was intimately 
associated. 

Especially to be considered here are the complete ac- 
counts of the history of the Reformation century. We 
name Ranke, Egelhaaf, Hasuser, von Bezold, Lamprecht, 
Brandi, Brieger, and Mentz ; Kawerau, Lindsay, and 
Hermelink. 93 

To him who wishes to work with manuscripts in the 
libraries and archives, the study of the "Handschriften- 
proben" of Ficker & Winckelmann, or of Mentz is to be 
recommended; and the "Addressbuch der deutschen 
Bibliotheken" by Schwenke is indispensable. 94 The 
"Quellenkunde der deutschen Geschichte" of Dahlmann- 
Waitz, the "List of References on the History of the 
Reformation in Germany," by Kieffer, and especially the 
"Quellenkunde zur deutschen Reformationsgeschichte" 
of Wolf, which is just making its appearance, will render 
valuable service. 95 

If we wish to specialize, we must have at our disposal 
Buchwald's publications on Wittenberg, 96 a complete 
series of biographies 97 and correspondences, 98 a collection 
of circulars from the first years of the Reformation, the 
collection of church constitutions by Sehling, and the 
detailed publications on sources by Cohrs and Reu. 99 



112 Thirty -Five Years of Luther Research 

Gothein, Vogt, Kaser, Caro, Stoltze, Sommerlad, 
Keuckhohn, Harvey et al., discuss the social and economic 
conditions. 100 

It will readily be seen that the "Zeitschrift fuer 
Kirchengeschichte," "Theolologische Studien und Kriti- 
ken," especially "Das Archiv fuer Reformations- 
geschichte," also "Theol. Jahresbericht," now, sorry to 
relate, defunct, must also be used in this connection. And 
Hauck's "Realenzyklopaedie" will prove to be a veritable 
treasure chest for every student of the history of the 
Reformation. 



V. THE IMPORTANT LUTHER BIOGRAPHIES 

Biographies of Luther based upon all this material we 
do not possess at this time. As a matter of fact a whole 
series of Luther biographies has appeared since 1883. 
Eminently fitted for popular use are those of G. Freytag, 
Plitt-Petersen, Koestlin, Burk, Lenz, Rade, Buchwald, 
Stein, Dose, Dorneth, Wackernagel, Grsebner, Jacobs, 
McGiffert, Smith, Preuss, Reu, and Singmaster. 101 
Among these Stein, Dose, Dorneth, Wackernagel, Preuss, 
Reu, and Singmaster are completely pitched in a popular 
key, whereas the others seek to fulfill scientific demands 
more or less. Among the German biographies the book 
of Lenz ranks very high. Only a relatively small book, it 
does not make the reader acquainted with the details in 
the life of the Reformer, for it was originally written 
under the commission of the Berlin Council to be dis- 
tributed among school pupils, but it takes its contents 
from the whole and portrays the great moments of de- 
velopments in wonderful fashion. Of similar character is 
the short biography of Preuss, the jubilee (1917) gift of 
the "Allgemeine Luth. Konferenz" for the German peo- 
ple. Larger and, on the whole, very good is the book of 
Plitt, which Petersen edited upon Plitt's death. Among 
the English biographies the one of Smith will have to be 
mentioned in the first place, although he did not always 
succeed in being just to Luther in his representation. 
Reu-Rausch is written for the Young People's Societies ; 
the richly illustrated edition is for the Christian home in 
general. Excellent, but incomplete, is the latest biography 
of Luther from the pen of Jacobs, which appeared in the 
first part of the Lutheran Survey. Here also Bezzel's 

113 



114 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

masterful sketch "Warum wir Luther lieben" has been 
given us in English translation. 101 

The historian of literature, Berger, has written Luther's 
life in the interest of history of culture. He wrote, first 
of all, a volume concerning the development of culture 
and religion from the times of the Old Church through 
the entire Middle Ages, in order to proceed thoroughly 
and to show the time in which Luther makes himself 
noticed in the development. Hausrath's Luther biogra- 
phy, two volumes, shows many points of contact with 
Berger's work, although it is entirely original and valu- 
able. H. von Schubert says of it in the preface of the 
second edition : "Hausrath's Luther is conceived and por- 
trayed as Carlyle conceived and portrayed his heroes, with 
the mind of an historian and poet. It may be that here 
and there corrections may be made, that here and there 
the brush daubed on too vivid colors, but forsooth the 
highest has been achieved : The great personality has 
been so vitally understood from its very depths and has 
been accorded its place in its time, that its visible, world- 
known and world-recasting influence is made believable." 
Kawerau says in 1908: "In striking antitheses and in 
effectual arranging Hausrath has created passages that 
rank with the most beautiful writings that we have on 
Luther. One would wish that some of these passages 
would be taken up into the readers of our children." But 
as thankful as we are for Hausrath's Luther, still it is not 
the whole Luther whom he portrayed. The whole Luther 
will only be portrayed by him who believes and confesses 
as Luther did. 102 

Koestlin's great Luther work, named before, which ap- 
peared in 1883 in an improved edition, sought to satisfy 
all scientific demands. Luther's life is not only discussed 



Important Luther Biographies 115 

in its smallest details in this work, but the main contents 
of almost all of his writings are given to the reader. 
For that reason it is even today the leading work on 
Luther, especially since it was thoroughly revised by 
Kawerau in its fifth edition. 

In the fall of 1883 there was added to this the work 
of Th. Kolde. 103 According to its preface it undertook 
"to portray Luther on the basis of the complete develop- 
ment of liis people, to consider as much as possible the 
diverse movements and hindrances in regard to the polit- 
ical, social, and scientific phase alongside of the ecclesias- 
tical and religious, in order that through this not only 
the success of the Reformer, but also the protests which 
he called forth may be better understood." His diction 
is not at all weighty, yet the whole representation, in spite 
of its great simplicity, partakes of the artistic and reveals 
everywhere the truly learned, who digs deep, who is not 
only acquainted with what others achieved before him, 
but who himself, step for step, enriches and intensifies the 
investigatory work. 

Kolde's production was completed in 1893, and Koest- 
lin's Luther in the new edition, revised by Kawerau, in 
1903. That explains why we possess no Luther biography 
today that considers the investigations of the last 12-14 
years, as Brieger's otherwise excellent work, "Die Re- 
formation" (cf. above), starts out from a broader view- 
point, and is too briefly written. Perhaps Scheel's "Mar- 
tin Luther. Vom Katholizismus zur Reformation" 1st 
vol., 1916), will eventually blossom out into a complete 
Luther biography. In the meantime Boehmer, in his 
excellent "Luther im Licht der neuen Forschung" (3d 
edition, 1914), also translated into English, has provided 
for this eventuality, so that all the important points in the 



n6 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

life of the Reformer that have suffered changes, are 
easily seen. For that reason his "kritischer Bericht" is a 
necessary complement to every earlier Luther biography ; 
something that must not be overlooked. It is very for- 
tunate, therefore, that Huth has given us this book in 
an American translation, just in that year when on ac- 
count of England's piracy and the American government's 
shameful incompetency to assert its rights an unhindered 
mail service between this country and the birthplace of 
the Reformer is not possible. 104 

Walther's book, "Fuer Luther wider Rom" (1906), 
is highly important for our American Lutheran Church, 
which in the face of a Catholicism steadily growing more 
blatant must elevate and defend Luther. For in this book 
he embodied all his former publications against Rome's 
falsifications in Luther's history, "Luther im neuesten 
rcemischen Gericht," 2 parts ; "Luther's Beruf ," "Luther's 
Glaubensgewissheit," "Das 6te Gebot u. Luther's Leben." 
He devoted considerable time also to Denifle, and thus 
he created for us an arsenal filled with trusty weapons, 
to be used at any time in Luther's defense. Essays like 
A. Harnack's "Martin Luther in seiner Bedeutung fuer 
die Geschichte der Wissenschaft und der Bildung" 
( 4 i9ii) and H. v. Treitschke's "Luther und die deutsche 
Nation" (Preuss. Jahrbuecher), 1883, will ever keep 
their place; and Walther's latest work on Luther, "Lu- 
ther's Charakter" (Leipzig, Deichers), 1917, which is 
his jubilee gift to the church, will for decades prove to 
be of peculiar importance. 

How Luther was judged during four centuries is made 
plain by R. Eickart (Luther im Urteil bedeutender Maen- 
ner, 1905), O. Hegemann (Luther im katholischen Urteil, 
Eine Wanderung durch vier Jahrunderte, 1905) and H. 






Important Luther Biographies 117 

Stephan (Luther in denWandlungen seiner Kirche, 1907). 

Finally there still remains to call attention to complete 
representations of Luther's theology and to such publica- 
tions as have made Luther's historical position the object 
of their research. Jul. Koestlin, Theo. Harnack and lately 
Gottschick have represented Luther's theology in our 
period, whereas W. Walther and R. Eger have attended 
especially to his ethics. With these are to be compared 
text-books of History of Dogma, by A. Harnack, Loofs, 
and Seeberg, and especially the ones by Tschackert and 
O. Ritschl. 105 

The assertion that Luther did not usher in the new era, 
but really belonged to the Middle Ages, was made by 
Troeltsch, W. Koehler endeavoring to support it. But 
Brieger, Loofs, Kattenbusch, Boehmer, and others have 
energetically opposed it. 106 Troeltsch would hardly have 
arrived at this conclusion if he had not started with the 
problem "J esus or Paul" in the sense of the modern 
school, and if he had not been firmly convinced from the 
very outset that there is no such thing as absolute truth 
and authority. Certainly, if you do not recognize an 
absolute truth and authority, then you must necessarily 
relegate Luther to the Middle Ages, where the belief in 
authority was the Alpha and Omega. But if you are con- 
vinced of this, and if, having an open mind for all present- 
day problems, you still see with gladness and thankfulness 
in the word of God the highest authority for your re- 
ligious life, then you will see in Luther the herald of the 
new age, an age unshackled from human authority — the 
papacy and science overstepping its rightful boundaries 
alike, but nevertheless an age whose conscience recognizes 
itself as bound by the authority of the Divine Word, and 
entirely bound. 



FOOT NOTES 

1 "Insight into the past, without reference to the present ; solely 
with the view to ascertain by means of detailed research work in 
the sources, what a course events actually took, i. e., to recon- 
struct as much as possible with the skill of an artist the course 
of events, after considering all the things that limited the life of 
the individual as well as the development of the whole" — -thus 
Kolde characterizes the Rankean School (Hauck's Realenzyk, 
vol. 23, p. 325). When Preserved Smith says in his useful work, 
"Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters," 
1913, vol. 1, p. 5 : "By the great Ranke and his school the sources 
of history most esteemed were public documents — the treaty, the 
legislative act, the contract, the charter, the edict. There is now 
a reaction from this method. The memoir, the journal, the pri- 
vate letters are coming into favor again, if only as necessary 
interpreters of the public act," he does not judge the Rankean 
School correctly. 

2 "For work in church history there is not, and there can not 
be any other method than the one long since employed in secular 
history" — Kolde, "Ueber die Grenzen des historischen Erken- 
nens," 1891, p. 4. Since 1874 he worked according to this prin- 
ciple; about Reuter cf. Kolde's article in Hauck's Enzyk., vol. 
XVI. 

3 "Since my unforgettable teacher, H. Reuter, pointed out to 
the modern study of church history new paths in this direction, 
it is commonly acknowledged to-day, that the church historian 
must in no small measure take the secular history of the Chris- 
tian period into the confines of his . researches" — Kolde, "Ueber 
die Grenzen, etc.," p. 4. "It is commonly acknowledged nowadays 
that secular and church history do not run parallel to each other 
like two streams, that only touch, when one of them overflows 
its banks, but, that they continually permeate and limit each 
other, and that the history of countries, of society, and of the 
entire intellectual life are no less of the highest importance for 

Il8 



Foot Notes 119 

the development of church and religious life than the influence 
these have exerted at all times upon those other developments" — 
Kolde, in "Neue Kirchliche Zeitschrift," 1900, p. 185. "I can 
explain my own scientific tendency in that, that, stimulated also 
by Reuter in this direction, I have emphasized in opposition to 
the school of Xeander, that a real insight into church historical 
development is only attainable through the closest conjunction 
with knowledge of the development of the history of the world 
and the entire intellectual life, and, that especially for the under- 
standing of church history since the end of the Middle Ages a 
better basis, gained through research work in archives, so long 
neglected by theology, is very necessary" — Kolde in the year 1903. 
That he was dominated by these principles from the beginning 
of his activities as an investigator and also wrote his Luther 
biography from this viewpoint, we will attempt to show a little 
later. 

4 Herder of St. Louis brought out the English edition. 

5 W. Walther in "Luther im neuesten roemischen Gericht" I. 
Halle, 1884, p. 15, "Janssen's History of the German people is 
very dangerous reading matter ; in order to refute every wrong 
word in this work, one would have to publish such a voluminous 
work, that there would be hardly any subscribers for it. There 
are not a few pages in this book where nearly every sentence in 
some way calls forth our protest. For the individual, smaller 
parts are prepared with such consummate art, these parts again 
constructed into larger groups with such skill, and these groups 
again dovetailed into the whole picture with fairly invisible 
cement that one would not only have to uncover the errors in 
these smaller parts, but above all those in the phrases that con- 
nect these, in order to refute Janssen thoroughly." 

6 In W. Walther's "Luther im roemischen Gericht," I. Halle, 
1874, one can find, p. 16 sq., a complete list of such libelous writ- 
ings. Majunke's "Luther's Lebensende" is meant here. 

7 Together with L. Pastor's continuation of Janssen's history, 
L. Pastor, "Erlaeuterungen und Ergaenzungen zu Janssen's Ge- 
schichte des deutschen Volkes," published since 1903, is especially 
to be considered. 

8 Of manuscripts in the first edition, Koestlin only used the 
Table-Talk collection of Val. Bavarus, which was at Gotha. In 



120 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

the second edition, he made use of the Table-Talk collection, 
collected by J. K. Seidemann. Moreover, he had the service 
especially of Knaake's valuable collection of Luther's printed 
writings, Luther's first lecture on the Psalms in the time between 
1 5 13 and 15 16, edited by Seidemann, 1876, in which the maturing 
of his new theology could be detected, and, if we exclude the less 
important, Kolde's study of the German Augustinian Congre- 
gation. 

9 In "Beitraege zur Reformationsgeschichte," dedicated to 
Koestlin, 1896, Kawerau supplemented this monogravure. 

10 Thus for example Kawerau confesses (Theologische Stu- 
dien und Kritiken, 1908, p.' 343) : "I am personally indebted to 
Kolde especially for the fact that, through his preliminary work, 
my attention was directed to the letters of the reformers that 
were in the archives at Zerbst. I was enabled, solely through this 
clue, to collect the letters of Justus Jonas (with which work I 
had begun) in such great numbers that I could publish them, 
1884 and 1885, in two volumes." 

11 A part of the Vatican Library ; so called because it was 
originally in the Palatinate (at Heidelberg). After the capture 
of Heidelberg by Maximilian of Bavaria, 1622, Maximilian made 
a present of it to Pope Gregory XV. In February, 1623, the 
papal delegate Leo Allatius sent the manuscripts and a large part 
of the printed matter to Rome. 

12 Concerning this peculiar incident and the ugly features con- 
nected with it, for which, however, Ficker is not responsible, we 
would rather say nothing; cf. "Theologische Literaturzeitung," 
1905, column 684. 

13 At that time we immediately acquainted the American Lu- 
theran Church with this through a copy of an article by W. Braun 
in "Kirchliche Zeitschrift," 1909, pp. 471-496. But the trouble is, 
that most of our English Lutheran theologians do not consider 
this German magazine worthy of their notice. 

14 Meissinger, in "Luther's Exegese in der Fruehzeit," 191 1, 
shows that it can not be absolutely ascertained that Luther gave 
lectures on the Epistle to Titus, furthermore that it is not beyond 
doubt whether the lectures on Genesis and I Corinthians, which 
have been attributed to him, are his; in the same connection, 



Foot Notes 121 

Meissinger characterizes the lectures on the Epistle to the He- 
brews on basis of the manuscript. 

15 P. Drew's "Disputationen Luthers in den Jahren 1535 bis 
1545 an der Universitaet Wittenberg gehalten," Goettingen, 1905. 

16 G. Buchwald "Ungedruckte Predigten Luthers von der Co- 
burg," 1884; G. Buchwald "A. Poachs Sammlung ungedruckter 
Predigten Luthers," 1884 and 1885; G. Buchwald "Elf bisher 
ungedruckte Predigten Luthers von 1539," 1888; G. Buchwald 
"Ungedruckte Predigten Luthers von 1537 bis 1540," 1905. 

17 "Dr. Martin Luther's Tischreden oder Colloquia. Nach 
Aurifabers erster Ausgabe, mit sorgfaeltiger Vergleichung sowohl 
der Stangwaldschen als der Selneccerischen Redaktion," edited 
by K. Ed. Foerstemann, vols. 1-3, Leipzig, 1844-46; vol. 4, edited 
by E. Bindseil, Berlin, 1848. "D. Martini Lutheri Colloquia . . . 
e Codice Ms. Bibliothecae Orphanotrophii Halensis cum perpetua 
collatione editionis Rebenstockianae . . . edita ab Henrico Er- 
nesto Bindseil." 3 vols. Lemgo and Detmold, 1863-1866. "M. 
Anton Lauterbachs, Diakoni zu Wittenberg, Tagebuch auf das 
Jahr, 1538, die Hauptquelle der Tischreden Luthers," edited from 
the Ms. by J. K. Seidemann, Dresden, 1872. 

18 Kawerau in Hauck's Realenzyk, 2 p. 292, "Among Auri- 
faber's collection of Luther's last table-talks reproduced from 
Aurifaber's own notations, only those are of substantial worth 
that he wrote first. They originate from his own pen and bear 
the mark of his cumbersome and wordy style. Most of these 
notations are based on A. Lauterbach's preparatory work. Lauter- 
bach had already worked over some notations from Luther's 
table, some of his own, some of others which originally had been 
chronologically arranged, into a large collection, which is not to 
be confused with his diary, edited by Seidemann in 1872. This 
collection is arranged partly according to the cardinal doctrines 
of the Christian faith and partly alphabetically after the first 
letters of Latin catch-words (edited by Bindseil in Latin, 1863), 
Lauterbach went over his work again in order to improve the 
arrangement; the edition of Rebenstock, 1571, is the print of 
this revision in which the author also translated all the German 
phrases into Latin. Aurifaber had for years zealously collected 
table-talks of Luther from the notations of others (Cordatus, 
Schlaginhaufen, V. Dietrich, Matthesius et al.). He also pos- 



122 Thirty -Five Years of Luther Research 

sessed for his use a copy of the collection of Lauterbach which 
contained a revision of the Ms. at Halle. Furthermore, he had 
the use of a smaller collection in which talks of Luther were 
systematically arranged and which was already completely trans- 
lated into German (preserved in Wolf enbuettel : 878 Helmst). 
Aurifaber worked the second part of Lauterbach's translation 
into the first and interlarded his collection with sayings from 
other notations. At the same time he combined and interlarded 
the texts of different versions of the same conversations, or again 
offered the same conversation in different recensions at different 
places. Like the German collection of Wolfenbuettel, which he 
took over word for word into his collection, he translated Latin 
pieces into German. Therefore his work, which has conserved 
Luther's table-talks until the present day, possesses only second- 
ary or even less value as a collection of original talks, the work 
originally being meant to serve its readers only in an edifying 
and entertaining way. The historical investigator must leave it 
out of consideration and go back to original notations still in 
existence. The editor committed many errors and was often 
desultory; his practice of combining parallel texts is critically 
questionable; his usually apt translations often become verbose 
paraphrases. There can, however, be no thought of intentional 
fraud here, although at times his prejudices show themselves 
quite plainly. 

19 "Tagebuch ueber Dr. Martin Luther gefuehrt von Dr. Con- 
rad Cordatus, 1537," published for the first time by H. Wrampel- 
meyer, Halle, 1885. 

20 Compare with this the explanations of Kroker in vol. 2 of 
the Table-Talk Collection in the Luther edition of Weimar, p. 
xx ff. 

21 "Tischreden Luthers aus den Jahren 1531 und 1532 nach den 
Aufzeichnungen von Johann Schlaginhaufen," published from a 
Ms. at Muenchen by William Preger, Leipzig, 1888. 

22 "Analecta Lutherana et Melanchthoniana. Tischreden Lu- 
thers und Aussprueche Melanchthons, hauptsaechlich nach Auf- 
zeichnungen des Johannes Matthesius. Aus der Nuernberger 
Handschrift des Germanischen Museums mit Benutzung von D. 
Joh. Karl Seidemanns Vorarbeiten herausgegeben und erlaeutert 
von Georg Loesche. Gotha 1892. 



Foot Notes 123 

28 Luther's Tischreden in der Matthesischen Sammlung," pub- 
lished by Ernst Kroker from a Ms. of the city library at Leipzig 
(Schriften der Koeniglichen Saechsischen Kommission fuer Ge- 
schichte VIII), Leipzig, 1903. 

24 Koenigliches Gymnasium zu Clausthal. Festschrift zu der 
am 30. Sept., 1905, stattfindenden Einweihung des neuen Schulge- 
baeudes. Leipzig, B. G. Teubner, 1905. 

25 Wilhelm Meyer "Ueber Lauterbachs und Aurifabers Samm- 
lungen der Tischreden Luthers (Abhandlungen der Koeniglichen 
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Goettingen. Philolog.-his- 
torische Klasse, N. F. 1. Band Nr. 2), Berlin, 1896. 

26 "Luther's Table Talk." A critical Study by Preserved Smith 
(Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, edited by the 
Faculty of Political Science of Columbia University, vol. XXVI, 
No. 2), New York, 1907. 

27 This is a statement of the church historian Ignatius von 
Doellinger who wrote, as follows, concerning Luther in 1871 : 
"Luther's predominant intellectual powers and his wonderful ver- 
satility made him the man of his time and of his people. And this 
is true in every sense. There never was a German who knew 
his people so deeply and was so completely understood by them, 
I would even say, so taken into the hearts and minds of his people, 
as this Augustinian monk of Wittenberg. Mind and spirit of 
the Germans were in his hand, as the lyre in the hand of the 
artist. For he gave to his people more than one man ever did 
in all Christendom : language, catechism, Bible, churchsong. 
Everything his antagonists possessed, to oppose or supplant him 
with, appeared feeble, flat and colorless alongside of his all- 
compelling eloquence. They stammered, he spoke. He alone, 
impressed upon the German soul as upon the German language 
the ineffaceable seal of his soul. And even those Germans who 
hate him from the bottom of their souls and who look upon him 
as an heretic and seducer from the true religion, even they can 
not do otherwise than talk with his words and think with his 
thoughts." (Doellinger, Die Wiedervereinigung der christlichen 
Kirchen. Noerdlingen, 1888, p. 53.) 

28 The author had the pleasure of looking over a large part 
of the proof sheets of the immense volume containing the cate- 
chisms. 



124 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

20 W. Moellenberg in "Zeitschrift des Harz-vereins," 1906, p. 
169-193. Compare also: G. Kutzke, Aus Luthers Heimat. Vom 
Erhalten und Erneuern, 1914. 

30 G. Oergel "Vom jungen Luther," 1889; P. Drews in "Theo- 
logische Rundschau," 1900, p. 21 iff; Kawerau in "Neue kirch- 
liche Zeitschrift, 1900, p. 163-174. 

31 H. J. Kaemmel "Geschichte des deutschen Schulwesens im 
Uebergang vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit," 1882. J. Mueller "Quel- 
lenschriften zur Geschichte des deutschsprachlichen Unterrichts 
bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts," 1882. J. Mueller "Vor- 
und fruehreformatorische Schulordnungen und Schulvertraege" 
(Sammlung selten gewordener paedagogischer Schriften), 1885, 
1886. J. Mueller "Die Anfaenge des saechsischen Schulwesens," 
1887 (Neues Archiv fuer Saechsische Geschichte und Alter- 
tumskunde). J. Knepper "Das Schul- und Unterrichtswesen in 
Elsass von den Anfaengen bis gegen 1530," 1905. E. Schmid 
"Das vorreformatorische Schulwesen in Wuerttemberg," 1906. 
G. Bauch "Geschichte des Breslauer Schulwesens vor der Refor- 
mation," 1909. cf. also Janssen-Pastor "Geschichte des deutschen 
Volkes, etc.," vol. 1. cf. also R. Doebner "Annalen und Akten 
der Brueder des gemeinsamen Lebens im Luechtenhof zu Hildes- 
heim, Hannover," 1903, and G. Boerner "Die Brueder des gemein- 
samen Lebens in Deutschland" (in "Deutsche Geschichtsblaetter," 
1905, No. 9). 

32 G. Buchwald "Luther im Hause der Frau Cotta zu Eise- 
nach," 1888. 

33 G. Oergel "Beitraege zur Geschichte des Erfurter Humanis- 
mus" (Mitteilungen des Vereins fuer die Geschichte und Alter- 
tumskunde von Erfurt, No. 15) ; "Zur Erinnerung an die Uni- 
versitaet Erfurt" (ibid. No. 16, 1894) ; "Lebens- und Studienord- 
nung auf der Universitaet Erfurt waehrend des Mittelalters" 
(Jahrbuecher der Akademie zu Erfurt, Neue Folge, No. 19) ; 
"Der junge Luther," 1889. Th. Kolde "Die deutsche Augustiner- 
kongregation und Johann Staupitz," 1879; "Das religioese Leben 
in Erfurt beim Ausgang des Mittelalters," 1898. G. Bauch "Die 
Universitaet Erfurt in Zeitalter des Fruehhumanismus," 1904. 
H. Hermelink, "Die theologische Fakultaet in Tuebingen vor der 
Reformation, 1477-1524," 1906; "Die religioesen Reformbestre- 



Foot Notes 125 

bungen des deutschen Humanismus," 1907. O. Scheel "Martin 
Luther. Vom Katholicismus zur Reformation." Vol. 1, 1916. 

34 cf . G. Plitt "Jodocus Trutvetter von Eisenach, der Lehrer 
Luthers," 1876. N. Paulus "Bartholomaeus Arnoldi von Usin- 
gen," 1893 (Strassburger Theol. Studien 1, 3). Gabriel Biel's 
main work was "Collectorium in libros Quattuor Sententiarum." 

36 Th. Kolde "P. Denifle, seine Beschimpfung Luthers und der 
evangelischen Kirche," 1904. R. Seeberg "Luther und Luther- 
tum in der neuesten katholischen Beleuchtung," 1904. J. Hauss- 
leiter "Luther im roemischen Urteil," 1904. Th. Brieger in 
"Zeitschrift fuer Kirchengeschichte," 26, p. 382 ff. W. Walther 
"Denifles Luther, eine Ausgeburt der roemischen Moral," 1904. 
Denifle answered with "Luther in rationalistischer und christ- 
licher Beleuchtung. Principielle Auseinandersetzung mit A. Har- 
nack und R. Seeberg," 1904. cf. also II. supplementary vol. of 
the Braunschweig-Berlin Luther edition, in which Scheel fur- 
nishes a commentary of 202 pages for Luther's treatise on monas- 
tic vows, in which he refutes Denifle in every particular. 

87 K. Benrath "Luther im Kloster, 1505-1525. Zum Verstaend- 
nis und zur Abwehr," 1905. W. Braun "Die Bedeutung der 
Konkupiscenz in Luther's Leben und Lehre," 1908. 

38 J. Hauszleiter, Die Universitaet Wittenberg vor dem Eintritt 
Luthers, 1903. — G. Bauch, Wittenberg und die Scholastik (Neues 
Archiv f. saechsische Geschichte 1897, p. 285 ff). — E. Haupt, Was 
unsere Universitaeten Wittenberg verdanken, 1902. 

39 Hausrath, Martin Luthers Romfahrt, 1894.— G. Tuerk, Lu- 
thers Romfahrt, Schulprogramm, Meiszen, 1897. — Th. Elze, 
Luthers Reise nach Rom, 1899. — G. Kawerau, Von Luthers Rom- 
fahrt 1901 (Deutsch-Evangelische Blaetter 26 p. 69-102.) — K.Todt, 
Luthers Romreise (Preuszische Jahrbuecher, 117 p. 2976°.), 1904. 
— H. Boehmer, Luthers Romfahrt, 1914. — Compare also O. 
Clemen, Beitraege z. Ref. Ill p. 89; N. Paulus, Historisches Jahr- 
buch 1891, p. 68f; 1901, p. noff; 1903, p. 72ft*. Historisch-Poli- 
tische Blaetter 1912, 1 p. I26ff. — Compare: F. M. Nichols, Mira- 
bilia urbis Romae, London, Ellis & Elvey, 1889. 

40 What experience Luther made when, on his knees, he as- 
cended the 28 steps of the Scala Santa of Pilate, has been handed 
down to us by an autograph of his son Paul, who in 1582 wrote: 



126 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

"Anno 1544 Hatt mein liebster Vatter gottsehliger yhnn gegen- 
warth seiner Tischgenger vnd vnsser aller die gantze historica (?) 
vhonn seiner reisenn gegenn Rom so ehr an. 15 10 yhnn etlichen 
geschefften thun mussen, erzelet, vnd vnter anderm mit grossen 
freudenn bekandt, das ehr doselbstenn durch den geist Jesu Christi 
sei zum erkentnus der warheitt des heyligenn Evangelii gekommen 
dergestalt vnd also : da ehr seine preces graduales in scala 
Lateranensi verrichten wollenn, ist ihme alsbald eingefallenn der 
spruch des propheten Abacuk, welchenn Paulus ihm erstenn capi- 
tel zunn Roemern eingef uret : namlich : der gerechte wirdt seines 
glaubens lebenn. Hatt darauf sein gebett bleybenn lassenn. Und 
wie ehr gegen Wittenberger kommen, nichts anderst als dieselb 
epistel Pauli fur sein hochst fundament gehaltenn." But this 
note evidently contains gross mistakes and is by no means very 
trustworthy. The Historians, therefore, were inclined to treat the 
whole occurrence as unhistorical. Buchwald, however, proved, 
191 1 (Zeitschr. f. Kirchengeschichte 32, p. 606-607), that Luther 
said in a sermon on November 15, 1545 (not yet published; extant 
in the Ratsschulbibliothek at Zwickau, Cod. No. XXVIII) : "Sic 
Romae wollt meum avum ex purgatorio erloesen, gieng die 
treppen hinauf Pilati, orabam quolibet pater noster. Erat enim 
persuasio, qui sic oraret redimeret animam. Sed in fastigium 
veniens cogitabam : quis scit an sit verum ? Non valet ista oratio 
etc." -So Luther really ascended the staircase, but the inner ex- 
perience on this occasion was doubt, as he had already experienced 
it as a monk in his prayers, and these doubts in no way brought 
about a turn in his inner life. This fits in with everything we 
know otherwise in connection with Luther's journey to Rome; 
therefore, even though it proved to be of the greatest importance 
to Luther later on, confirming him in the belief of the justness of 
his cause, it in no wise promoted any development in his inner 
life already at that time. — Compare Boehmer, p. 158-160 and M. 
Reu, Luthers Romfahrt (Kirchliche Zeitschrift), 1916. 

41 That Luther had been in Koeln was formerly unknown, for 
a passage in Lauterbach's Table Talks of 1538 (ed. Seidemann 
p. 43) had been overlooked. Boehmer again called attention to 
this fact, proving it, however, also by a sermon of Luther that 
was published for the first time in W. E. vol. 34, 1 (p. 22). — 
Boehmer also completely refutes Grisar's misrepresentations of 



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Foot Notes 127 

Luther in connection with his journey to Rome and with the 
cause of this journey, the dispute of the Order. 

42 H. Steinlein, Luthers Doktorat 1912 (Neue Kirchl. Zeit- 
schrift, October number; also separate). 

43 O. Scheel, Luther's Rueckblick auf seine Bekehrung in der 
Praefatio zu seinen gesammelten Werken (Zeitschr. f. Theologie 
und Kirche, 21) 191 1. G. Kawerau, Luther in katholischer 
Beleuchtung, Halle 191 1. H. Steinlein Kritische Anmerkungen 
zur neuesten katholischen Lutherbiographie (Neue kirchliche 
Zeitschrift) 191 1. — O. Scheel, Ausschnitte aus dem Leben des 
jungen Luther (Zeitschr. f. Kirchengeschichte 32, 2) 191 1. — J. 
Hauszleiter, Luthers "Luegen" in Grisars Darstellung (Allgem. 
Evang. Luth. Kirchenzeitung) 1912. — Prof. Merkle of Wuerz- 
burg, a Roman Catholic, reviewed the book in a remarkably ob- 
jective way in "Hochland" 1912. 

44 The expression "locus secretus," which Cordatus uses, does 
by no means necessarily mean privy, and when Khumer's text 
reads "Turm und Kloake," so this reading is entirely uncertain, 
being very probably only an incorrect solution of the abbreviation 
"cl." found in Schlaginhaufen's text. The correct solution seems 
to be claustrum or cella. Lauterbach's text offers : "in hac turri 
et hypocausto." 

45 H. Hering, Luther's erste Vorlesungen (Theol. Studien u. 
Kritiken), 1887. — A. W. Dieckhoff, Luthers erste Vorlesungen 
ueber den Psalter (Zeitschr. f. kirchl. Wissenschaft u. kirchl. 
Leben), 1883. — A. W. Dieckhoff, Luthers Lehre in ihrer ersten 
Gestalt, 1887. 

46 J. Ficker, Die Anf aenge reformatorischer Bibelauslegung 
1908 (1. vol. p. XLVI— C II).— K. A. Meissinger, Luthers Exegese 
in der Fruehzeit, 191 1. 

47 A. W. Dieckhoff, Luthers Lehre in ihrer ersten Gestalt 1887. — 
A. W. Hunzinger, Der Neuplatonismus Luthers in der Psalmen- 
vorlesung von 1513-1516. Ein Beitrag zum Augustinismus Lu- 
thers, 1906. — A. W. Hunzinger, Das Furchtproblem in der katho- 
lischen Lehre von Augustin bis Luther, 1906. — A. W. Hunzinger, 
Luther und die deutsche Mystik (Neue kirchl. Zeitschrift), 1908. 
— H. Hermelink, Die theol. Fakultaet in Tuebingen, 1906. — W. 
Braun, Die Bedeutung der Konkupiscenz in Luthers Lehre und 
Leben, 1908. — J. Ficker, Luthers Kommentar zum Roemerbrief, 



128 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

1908. — O. Scheel, Die Entwicklung Luthers bis zum Abschluss 
der Vorlesung ueber den Roemerbrief, 1910. — O. Scheel, Doku- 
mente zur Entwicklung Luthers, 191 1. — A. V. Mueller, Luthers 
theologische Quellen. Seine Verteidigung gegen Denifle und Gri- 
sar, 1912. — J. v. Walter, Vom jungen Luther (Neue kirchl. Zeit- 
schrift) 1914. Fr. Loofs, Dogmengeschichte, 4. ed. 1906. — H. 
Boehmer, Luther im Lichte der neueren Forschung, 3. ed. 1913. — 
O. Ritschl, Dogmengeschichte des Protestantismus, 1908, 1912. 

48 Aloys Schulte, Die Fugger in Rom 1495-1523. Mit Studien 
zur Geschichte des kirchlichen Finanzwesens jener Zeit, 2 vols. 
1904. — Compare also P. Kalkoff, Zu den roemischen Verhand- 
lungen ueber die Bestaetigung des Erzb. Albrecht von Mainz im 
Jahre 1514 (Archiv f. Reform.) 1903. 

49 E. Bratke, Luthers 95 Thesen und ihre dogmengeschicht- 
lichen Voraussetzungen, 1884. — A. W. Dieckhoff, Der Ablasz- 
streit, dogmengeschichtlich dargestellt, 1886. — Th. Brieger, Das 
Wesen des Ablasses am Ausgang des Mittelalters, 1897. — Th. 
Brieger, article "Indulgenzen" in Hauck's R. E. 1902. — Th. Brie-, 
ger, Ein Leipziger Professor im Dienst des Baseler Konzils 
(Beitraege zur saechsischen Kirchengeschichte) 1903. — Joh. Dit- 
terle, Die Summae Confessorum von ihren Anfaengen an bis zu 
Silvester Prierias unter besonderer Beruecksichtigung ihrer Be- 
stimmungen ueber den Ablasz (Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch.) 1903- 
1907. — N. Paulus, Raimund Peraudi als Ablaszkommissar (Hist. 
Jahrbuch d. Goerres-Gesellschaft) 1900; other articles ibidem 
1907-1909. On the origin of the indulgence consult especially, 
A. Gottlob, Kreuzablasz und Almosenablasz, 1906. Almosenent- 
wicklung und Ablaszinhalt im 11. Jarh. 1907, und A. W. Koe- 
niger, Der Ursprung des Ablasses, 1907, 

50 N. Paulus, Johann Tetzel, 1899; Comp. supplementary notes 
in the "Katholik" 1899, 1 p. 484 ff. 1901, 1, p. 453 ff. 554 ff. 

51 W. Koehler, Dokumente zum Ablaszstreit von 1517, 1902. — 
W. Koehler, Luthers 95 Thesen samt seinen Resolutionen sowie 
den Gegenschriften des Wimpina, Tetzel, Eck und Prierias und 
den Antworten Luthers darauf, 1903. — Th. Brieger, Die Glieder- 
ung der 95 Thesen Luthers. Studien und Versuche zur neueren 
Geschichte, Max Lenz gewidmet, 1910. (Hermelink gives a short 
sketch of Brieger's analysis in his Geschichte der Reformation 
1912 p. 66). 



Foot Notes 129 

52 K. Mueller, Luthers roemischer Prozesz (Zeitschr. f. Kir- 
chengesch.) 1903. — A. Schulte, Quellen und Forschungen aus 
italienischen Archiven, VI., 1903. — P. Kalkoff, Zu Luthers roemi- 
schem Prozesz (Zeitschr. f. Kirchengeschichte) 1905 and 1910- 
1912. — P. Kalkoff, Forschungen zu Luthers roemischem Prozesz 
(Lib. of the Prussian hist. Inst, in Rome 2 vols.) 1905. — Compare 
N. Paulus, Die deutschen Dominikaner i. Kampf gegen Luther 
(Erlaeuterungen u. Ergsenzungen zu Janssens Geschichte des 
deutschen Volkes IV, 1. 2). — P. Kalkoff, Die von Kajetan ver- 
fasste Ablaszdekretale u. s. Verhandlungen mit dem Kurfuersten 
in Weimar 1519 (Archiv f. Refgesch.) 1912. — Compare Kirch- 
liche Zeitschrift 1916, p. 401 ff. and 1917, p. 101 ff. Kalkoff 
also touches upon questions directly or indirectly connected with 
Rome's stand over against Luther in the following writings: 
Die Anfaenge der Gegenreformation in den Niederlanden, 1903. 
1904; Die Beziehungen der Hohenzollern zur Kurie unter dem 
Einfluss der lutherischen Frage, 1906. W. Capito, im Dienste 
Erzbischof Albrechts von Mainz, 1907; Aleander gegen Luther, 
1908. 

53 Th. Kolde, Friedrich der Weise und die Anfaenge der Re- 
formation, 1881. — J. Koestlin, Friedrich der Weise und die 
Schloszkirche zu Wittenberg 1892. — Th. Kolde, Friedrich der 
Weise (Haucks R. E. vol. 6) 1899.— P. Kalkoff, Ablasse und 
Reliquienverehrung an d. Schloszkirche z. Wittenberg, 1907. — 
Compare also R. Bruck, Friedrich d. Weise als Foerderer der 
Kunst, 1903. 

64 H. A. Creuzberg, Karl von Miltiz 1490-1529, 1907. — P. Kal- 
koff, Die Miltiziade, 1911. 

56 F. Seitz, Der authenische Text der Leipziger Disputation 
von 1 51 9. Aus unbenutzten Quellen herausgegeben, 1903. — Th. 
Brieger, Einiges ueber die Leipziger Disputation von 1519 (Die 
Universitaet, Leipzig, Gedenkblatt) , 1909. 

66 M. Perlbach und J. Luther, Ein neuer Bericht ueber Lu- 
thers Verbrennung der Bannbulle (Sitzungsbericht der K. Preusz. 
Akademie d. Wiss.), 1907. — O. Clemen, Ueber die Verbrennung 
der Bannbulle durch Luther (Theol. Stud. u. Kritiken), 1908. 

67 H. Preusz, Die Vorstellungen vom Antichrist im spaeteren 
Mittelalter, bei Luther und in der konfessionellen Polemik, 1906. 
— H. Preusz, Das Froemmigkeitsmotiv von Luthers Tesseradekas 



130 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

und seine mittelalterlichen Wurzeln (Neue kirchl. Zeitschrift) 
1915. 

58 R. A. Lipsius, Luthers Lehre von der Busze, 1892. — W. Herr- 
mann, Die Busze des evang. Christen (Zeitschr. f. Theol. u. 
Kirche) 1891. — A. Galley, Die Busslehre Luthers und ihre Dar- 
stellung in neuester Zeit, 1900. — E. Fischer, Zur Geschichte d. ev. 
Beichte, 1902-03. — E. Fischer, Luthers Sermo de poenitentia von 
1518, 1906. — C. Stange, Die aeltesten ethischen Disputationen Lu- 
thers, 1904. — Compare also, K. Thieme, Die sittliche Triebkraft 
des Glaubens, 1895. — E. Rietschel, Luthers Anschauung von der 
Unsichtbarkeit und Sichtbarkeit der Kirche (Studion und Kriti- 
ken) 1900. 

58a L. Lemme, Die drei grossen Reformationsschriften Luthers, 
1884. — K. Benrath, An den christl. Adel deutscher Nation etc, 
1884. — W. Koehler, Luthers Schrift an d. christl. Adel im Spiegel 
d. Kultur u. Zeitgeschichte, 1895. Compare also H. Meltzer, 
Luther als deutscher Mann, 1905. 

59 The "syllogismus cornutus" is a nonsensical deduction after ^ 
the example : "What one never has lost one still possesses. You 
have never lost horns, therefore you have horns." The word 
cornutus was soon divorced from this specific use, and was given 
a wider meaning. An "interrogatio cornuta" is a question with a 
double meaning, a pun. "Non cornutus," therefore means, void 
of all sophistry, to the point. 

80 Th. Kolde, Luther und der Reichstag zu Worms, 1883. — 
Kluckhohn u. Wrede, Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Karl V, 
1903. 1906. — Th. Brieger, Neue Mitteilungen ueber Luther in 
Worms, 1883. — Th. Brieger, Aleander u. Luther 1521. Die ver- 
vollstaendigten Aleanderdepeschen nebst Untersuchungen ueber 
den Wormser Reichstag, 1884. — P. Kalkoff, Die Depeschen des 
Nuntius Aleander vom Wormser Reichstag uebersetzt u. erlaeu- 
tert, 1886, 2 ed. 1897.— P. Kalkoff, Briefe, Depeschen u. Berichte 
ueber Luther vom Wormser Reichstag, 1898. — P. Kalkoff, Die 
Beziehungen der Hohenzollern zur Kurie unter dem Einfluss 
der luth. Frage (Quellen u. Forschungen aus italienischen Ar- 
chiven) 1906. — P. Kalkoff, Aleander gegen Luther, 1908. — Th. 
Kolde, Der Reichsherold Casper Sturm und seine literarische 
Taetigkeit (Arch. f. Refgesch.) 1907. — R. Meiszinger, Ohne 
Hoerner und ohne Zaehne (Arch. f. Refgesch.) 1906. — H. Preusz, 



Foot Notes 131 

Was bedeutet die Formel "convictus testimoniis scripturarum aut 
ratione evidente" in Luthers ungehoernter Antwort zu Worms? 
(Theol. Stud. u. Krit), 1908.— Confer also Koestlin-Kawerau, 
Martin Luther, s. Leben u. s. Schriften 5. ed. 1903, p. 772. — 
R. Mueller, Luthers Schlussworte in Worms (Philothesia fuer P. 
Kleinert) 1907. — H. v. Schubert offers a good summary of the 
whole question in : Quellen u. Forschungen ueber Luther auf dem 
Reichstag zu Worms (Theol. Rundschau), 1899. — Th. Brieger, 
Zwei bisher unbekannte Entwuerfe des Wormser Edikts, 1910. — 
P. Kalkoff, Die Entstehung des Wormser Edikts, 1910.— P. Kal- 
koff, Der Humanist Hermann von der Busche u. die luther- 
freundliche Kundgebung auf d.- Wormser Reichstag vom 20, 
Apr. 1521 (Arch. f. Refgesch.) 191 1. — Confer also P. Kalkoff, 
Die Romzugverhandlungen auf dem Wormser Reichstag, 191 1, 
und: Die Anfaenge der Gegenreformation in den Niederlanden, 
1903 u. 1904. 

61 Max Lenz, Die Wartburgzeit Luthers (Universitaetspro- 
gramm) 1883. 

62 W. Krafft, Ueber die deutsche Bibel vor Luther, Universi- 
taetsprogramm, 1883 (confer also L. Keller, Die Waldenser und 
die deutschen Bibeluebersetzungen, 1886, und L. Keller, Die Re- 
formation und die aelteren Reformparteien, 1885). — W. Walther, 
Die deutsche Bibeluebersetzung des Mittelalters, 1889-1892. — W. 
Kurrelmeyer, The Genealogy of the Prelutheran Bibles (The 
Journal of Germanic Philology), 1900. — W. Kurrelmeyer, Die 
erste deutsche Bibel, 1904 ff. — W. Walther, Die Unabhaengig- 
keit der Bibeluebersetzung Luther's (N. Kirchl. Zeitschrift), 1890. 
— W. Walther, Luther's Bibeluebersetzung kein Plagiat, 1891. — 
G. Keyszner, Die drei Psalterbearbeitungen Luther's von 1524, 
1528 und 1 53 1, 1890. — G. Kawerau, Hier. Emser, 1898. 

63 We refer to "Vedder, The Reformation in Germany" (1914). 
Here we read on page 171 not only : "This version was certainly 
in the possession of Luther and was certainly used by him in the 
preparation of his version. This fact, once entirely unsuspected, 
and then hotly denied, has been proved to a demonstration by 
the 'deadly parallel.' It appears from a verse by verse com- 
parison that this old German Bible was in fact so industriously 
used by Luther, that the only accurate description of Luther's 
version is to call it a careful revision of the older text," but on 



132 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

page 170 we also read: "It would be difficult in any case to 
believe that a complete translation of the entire New Testament 
could have been made by a man of Luther's limited attainment 
in Greek, and with the imperfect apparatus that he possessed in 
the short space of ten weeks. . . . Any minister to-day who 
has had a Greek course of a college and seminary is a far better 
scholar than Luther. Let such a man, if he thinks Luther's 
achievement possible, attempt the accurate translation of a single 
chapter of the New Testament — such a translation as he would 
be willing to print under his own name — and multiply the time 
consumed by the 260 chapters. He will be speedily convinced 
that the feat attributed to Luther is an impossible one." And 
just this we pronounce childish argumentation. We could call 
attention to the fact that R. P. Olivetan completed his French 
translation of the entire Bible, printed 1536, in one year ; that 
Luther finished his writing against Sylvester Prierias, that in 
Walch's edition fills 80 columns, in two days ; that Luther was 
in fact a linguistic genius; that an educated man in the thirties 
acquires a dead language much faster and more thoroughly than 
a youth from 16 to 20, and this all the more, the dearer and more 
valuable, yes, even decisive for his whole life, the contents of 
a book written in that language is to him; that Luther since 1519 
had been a careful reader of Homer, writing many marginal 
notes into the copy which Melanchthon had presented to him 
(this copy is extant at London, cf . Pr. Smith, Notes from English 
libraries, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 32, pp. 111-115; compare also: 
O. G. Schmidt, Luther's Bekanntschaft mit den alten Klassi- 
kern, 1883). We also could emphasize the important fact that 
Luther for more than ten years was well versed in the contents 
of the New Testament through the Vulgata. But aside from 
this we would like to ask Vedder whether he has forgotten that 
Luther, as can be proved, since 1516 used the Greek original in 
the preparation of his lectures, and certainly not seldom also when 
he prepared his sermons, and that it more and more became the 
foundation for his whole theological work; that he, before his 
stay at the Wartburg, had treated the Epistle to the Romans, 
Hebrews, Galatians, perhaps also the Epistle to Titus and the 
first to the Corinthians in lectures, the Epistle to the Galatians 
beside this also in a voluminous commentary; in short, that 



Foot Notes 133 

Luther lived and moved in the New Testament, and, finally, 
that the printing of his translation had not begun for two 
months after his return from the Wartburg, and that it was not 
completed before six months had passed? During this time he, 
together with Melanchthon and other occasional helpers, once 
more revised the whole in a most painstaking manner. 

64 G. Bossert, Die Entstehung von Luthers Wartburg-Postille 
(Theol. Studien und Kritiken), 1897.— W. Koehler, Zu Luthers 
Wartburg-Postille (Zeitschr. fuer wissenschaftl. Theol.), 1898. — 

0. Scheel, Anmerkungen und Erlaeuterungen zur Schrift Luthers 
ueber die Moenchsgeluebde (2. suppl. vol. of the Braunschweig- 
Berlin Luther edition), 1905. — E. Klinger, Luther und der deut- 
sche Volksaberglaube, 1912. 

64a O. Undritz, Die Entwicklung des Schriftprinzips bei Luther 
in den Anfangsjahren der Reformation (N. kirchl. Zeitschrift) 
1897. — H. Preusz, Die Entwicklung des Schriftprinzips bei Luther 
bis zur Leipziger Disputation, 1901.— W. Walther, Das Erbe der 
Reformation im Kampf der Gegenwart. 1. Heft; Der Glaube an 
das Wort Gottes, 1903. — O. Scheel, Luthers Stellung zur H. 
Schrift, 1902. — K. Thimme, Luthers Stellung zur H. Schrift, 
1903. — K. F. Noesgen, Die luth. Lehre von der Inspiration nach 
ihrer geschichtlichen Gestalt, ihrer Eigentuemlichkeit und Halt- 
barkeit, 1909. — O. Zoeckler, Luther als Ausleger des A. Testa- 
ments gewuerdigt auf Grund s. groesseren Genesis-kommentars, 
1884. — F. Grundt, Luthers Verhaeltnis zur allegorischen Schrift- 
auslegung (Zeitschr. f. kirchl. Wissensch.) 1889. — K. Eger, Lu- 
thers Auslegg d. A. Testaments nach ihren Grundsaetzen u. 
ihrem Charakter untersucht an der Hand s. Predigten ueber das 

1. u. 2. Buch Mosis, 1900. — G. Kawerau, Die Schicksale des 
Jakobusbriefes im 16. Jahrhundert (Zeitschr. f. kirchl. Wissen- 
schaft) 1889. — W. Walther, Fuer Luther wider Rom. 1906. — W. 
Walther, Luthers spaetere Ansicht ueber den Jakobusbrief (in : 
Zur Wertung der deutschen Reformation), 1909. — J. Leipolt, Die 
Kritik des Reformationszeitalters am neutestl. Kanon (Deutsche 
evang. Blaetter), 1906. — F. Kropatscheck, Das Schriftprinzip der 
luth. Kirche, vol. I, 1904. — R. Seeberg, Occam (Hauck's R. E.), 
1904. — O. Ritschl, Dogmengeschichte des Protestantismus I, 1908. 
— P. Tschackert, Die Entstehung der luth. und reform. Kirchen- 
lehre, 1910. 



134 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

64b p. Pietsch, Martin Luther und die hochdeutsche Schrift- 
sprache, 1883. — K. Burdach, Die EinigUng der deutschen Schrift- 
sprache, 1884. — V. Hehn, Goethe und die Sprache der Bibel 
(Goethe Jahrbuch), 1887. — C. Franke, Die Grundzuege der 
Schriftsprache Luthers, 1888. — Schaub, Die niederdeutschen Ue- 
bersetzungen der Lutherbibel, 1889; compare Jellinghaus in Paul's 
Grundriss fuer germanische Philologie lip. 388. — K. Burdach, 
Forschungen zur deutschen Philologie (Festgabe fuer R. Hilde- 
brand), 1894. — Daumer, Die oberdeutschen Bibelglossare des 16. 
Jahrhund. (Diss.), 1898. — J. Luther, Die Reformationsbibliogra- 
phie und die Geschichte der deutschen Sprache, 1898. — H. 
Boehme, Zur Geschichte der saechsischen Kanzleisprache. Von 
den Anfaengen bis Luther, 1899. — B. Lindmeyer, Der Wortschatz 
in Luthers, Emsers und Ecks Uebersetzung des N. Testaments, 
Beitrag zur Geschichte der neuhochdeutschen Schriftsprache, 
1899. Compare the review by Ed. Schroeder in Goetting. Gel. 
Anzeiger, 1900. — E. Thiele, Luthers Sprichwoertersammlung. 
Nach seiner Handschrift zum ersten Mai herausgegeben, 1900. — 
Breest, Die Bibelversorgung Deutschlands, 1901. — R. Kuehn, Das 
Verhaeltnis der Decemberbibel zur Septemberbibel. Kritischer 
Beitrag zur Geschichte der Bibelsprache Luthers, 1901. — R. Neu- 
bauer, Martin Luther, ausgewaehlt, bearbeitet und erlaeutert, 
1903 [the second edition of 1907-1908 was not at hand]. — Byland, 
Der Wortschatz des Zuericher Alten Testaments von 1525 und 
1531, verglichen mit dem Wortschatz Luthers, 1903. — F. Kluge, 
Von Luther bis Lessing. Sprachgeschichtliche Auf saetze, 2, 1904. 
— Risch, Die deutsche Bibel in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwick- 
lung, 1907. — Schuett, Adam Petris Bibelglossar, 1908. — Virgil 
Moser, Historisch-grammatische Einfuehrung in die fruehneu- 
hochdeutschen Schriftdialekte, 1909: — P. Pietsch, Bibliographie 
der Drucke der Lutherbibel 1522- 1546 (Die Deutsche Bibel II p. 
200-727; Weimar Luther edition), 1909. — J. Gillhoff, Zur Sprache 
und Geschichte des Kleinen Katechismus Luthers, 1909.— v. Bach- 
mann, Der Einfluss von Luthers Wortschatz auf die schweizer- 
ische Literatur des 16. und 17. Jahrhund. 1909. — Gutjahr, Die 
Anfaenge der neuhochdeutschen Schriftsprache vor Luther, 1910. 
—Risch, Die Lutherbibel (Neue kirchl. Zeitschrift), 1911. — O. 
Reichert, Luthers deutsche Bibel, 191 1. — Alfr. Goetze, Fruehneu- 
hochdeutsches Glossar, 1912. — Alfr. Goetze, Deutsche Literatur der 






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in bet: !Kuchm ;«(ifiS€fi/ 

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Title page of the first evangelical hymn book. 

Printed at Wittenberg. It contained eight hymns, four of which were 

by Luther: Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein; Ach Gott vom 

Himmel sieh' darein; Es spricht der Unweisen Mund; Aus tiefer Not 

schrei ich zu dir. 



Foot Notes 135 

Reformationszeit (Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart 
III), 1912. — H. Zerener, Studie ueber das beginnende Eindrin- 
gen der luth. Bibeluebersetzung in die deutsche Literatur, 1913. 
Zerener points out very instructively what an influence Luther's 
German New Testament had on the German literature of 1522 
to 1525, and he bases his conclusions on not less than 681 writings 
that appeared during these few years. 

64c Xeubauer writes on Luther's language, 1. c. p. 2iff: Luther 
ist wesenlich Prosaiker, fuer die Dichtung kommt er nur als 
kirchlicher Lyriker in Betracht. Auch als Prosaiker muss seine 
Bedeutung richtig erfasst werden. Luther ist zu betrachten als 
ein populaerer Volksschriftsteller, dem der Inhalt seiner Schriften 
die Hautsache ist, nicht die kunstvoll angelegte, ausgestaltete 
und gerundete Form. Seine Zwecke sind keine aesthetischen, 
sondern rein pracktische. Wie er beinahe alles und jedes der 
Weltdinge und Weltverhaeltnisse mit einer manchmal uns bei- 
nahe beaengstigenden Konsequenz in dem Licht des Evangeliums 
betrachtet, so ist sein einziger Zweck bei allem. was er geschrie- 
ben, religioese oder ueberhaupt sittliche Bildung seines Volks. 
Die heilige Sache, und nur die Sache ist das Treibende auch in 
seiner Darstellung, alle aesthetischen oder kuenstlerischen Rueck- 
sichten muessen dem weichen, wie in seinem reformatorischen 
Wirken um der Sache willen, der zu dienen er sich berufen 
fuehlt, alle persoenlichen Ruecksichten hintenan gesetzt werden. 
Nichts ist falscher, als wenn man in Leitfaeden der Literatur 
Redensarten findet wie diese : "Alles, was er schreibt und spricht, 
traegt das Gepraege kuenstlerischer Vollendung." Nur von der 
Bibeluebersetzung gilt das in vollem Sinn, an ihr hat er sein 
Leben lang gebessert, gefeilt und geformt. Freilich hat er auch 
an seinen Fabeln, wie seine jetzt aufgefundene Handschrift 
zeigt, erstaunlich herumgebessert, ebenso an seinen sonstigen 
Schriften bei neuen Auflagen in Einzelheiten vielfach gebessert, 
aber mehr in Ruecksicht auf die Sprache als auf die kuenstleri- 
sche Form seiner Darstellung. Von dem "Gepraege kuenst- 
lerischer Vollendung" zu reden, verraet voellige Unwissenheit. 
Seine Schriften in der Form kuenstlerisch zu vollenden, dazu 
haette dem vielbeschaeftigten Mann, der neben seiner anderen 
reichen Taetigkeit manchmal in einem Jahr eine erstaunliche 
Menge Druckschriften abfasste, schon die Zeit gefehlt, wenn er 



136 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

es ueberhaupt gewollt haette. Aber er konnte es auch nicht ein- 
mal wollen, oder er haette anders sein muessen seinem ganzen 
Wesen, Anlage und Temperament nach, als er war und sein 
wollte. Und er haette dann seinen Schriften geradezu ihren 
eigenartigen Charakter nehmen muessen, auf dem ihre grosse 
Wirkung bei dem Volke beruhte. Zwar klar und uebersichtlich 
angelegt sind alle seine Schriften, aber das Eifern um die Sache 
durchbricht sehr haeufig die Form und stoert die Anlage. In 
breitspuriger Gedankenentwicklung, die gern alles mitnimmt, 
was gerade am Wege liegt, wenn es der Sache dienen kann, 
fliesst oft der Strom der Rede dahin ; alles was er auf dem Herzen 
hat muss heraus, in seinem Eif er tut er sich oft kein Genuege, legt 
sich kein Mass auf und bringt so dieselbe Sache, die abgetan 
schien, nicht selten mehrfach wieder. Oder er reiht, besonders 
in den auf die Massen berechneten Streit- und Flugschriften in 
bequemer und lockerer Weise der Gedankenentwicklung Ab- 
schnitt an Abschnitt, und zwar in der aller Kunst und Anordnung 
baren Form blosser Aufzaehlung: Zum ersten, Zum zweiten etc. 
So erhalten manche seiner Schriften nicht selten etwas Form- 
loses fuer uns, die wir heute eine knappere und mehr gedraengte 
Darstellung fordern. 

Aber mit diesen Maengeln der Form, die uebrigens nicht in 
alien Schriften gleichmaessig hervortreten, haengt aufs engste 
zusammen der eigenartige Vorzug, der Reiz, das Packende 
Fortreissende der Luther'schen Schriften. Nicht bloss in der 
frischen, lebendigen, anschaulichen Sprache, von der oben die 
Rede war, liegt dies, sondern auch in dem Lebendigen, der 
frischen Unmittelbarkeit seines Stils und seiner Darstellung 
ueberhaupt. Luther schreibt und redet, und beides ist bei ihm 
eins, immer frisch heraus aus dem jeweiligen Eindruck, der 
unmittelbaren Stimmung des Augenblicks. Auch beim Schreiben 
sind ihm die, fuer die er schreibt, an und gegen die er seine 
Worte richtet, moegen es seine Widersacher oder Freunde, 
moegen es Leute aus dem Volk oder Fuersten und Adel sein, 
immer vor Augen, immer ist ihm alles und jedes gegenstaendlich, 
steht leibhaftig vor ihm, wie bei der lebendigen Rede. Er redet 
die Personen und Dinge, von denen er spricht, an, plaudert, ver- 
handelt, streitet, spielt mit ihnen, als wenn sie gegenwaertig vor 
ihm staenden. Dies giebt seiner Darstellung oft etwas Drama- 



Foot Notes 137 

tisches. Und je nachdem die Sache, um derentwillen er schreibt, 
seinen Herzschlag erregter macht oder ruhiger das Herz 
schlagen laesst, ist auch die Darstellung erregter oder ruhiger, 
kampflustiger oder friedlicher, ist der ganze Ton bis auf den Fall 
der Worte und Saetze ein anderer. Alles ist eben laut gesprochen 
gedacht, alles ist lebendige Rede. Bald donnert und blitzt es 
bei ihm, der Sturm zieht einher und wirft die Mauern der Papis- 
ten ueber den Hauf en ; bald wieder weht uns der stille Geist des 
Friedens an, wo er die "Summa eines christlichen Lebens" zieht; 
bald hoeren wir die liebevoll mahnende und belehrende Stimme 
des Lehrers und Predigers, der die Irregeleiteten auf die richtige 
Bahn zurueckfuehren will ; bald wieder, wie in der Historie von 
Bruder Heinrichs Tod, den schlichten, einfaeltigen Ton der 
Chronik. Je nach dem Zweck, den er verfolgt, nach den Per- 
sonen, an die er sich wendet, je nach Lage und Umstaenden, je 
nach der Sache, fuer die er eifert, ist Ton und Charakter seiner 
Schriften ein anderer, und jedesmal der angemessene. Und 
jeder Stimmung, jeder Tonart fuegt sich, wie Stil und Darstel- 
lung, so auch seine Sprache. Alle Mittel stehen ihm zur Ver- 
fuegung: Der derbe, wenn es sein muss, selbst niedrige Aus- 
druck, wenn er nur volkstuemlich ist und wirkt, die Keulenworte, 
Hohn und Spott ebenso wie die zartesten und lieblichsten Worte ; 
Bilder, Gleichnisse, Sprichwoerter, Personifikationen, das Wort- 
spiel und der Gleichklang, die Form der rhethorishen Wieder- 
holung, der Steigerung und Uebertreibung, alles ist ihm zur 
Hand. Will man in diesem lebendigen Gefuehl, diesem sicheren 
Takt, fuer die jedesmal angemessene Form und fuer das le- 
bendig Wirksame Kunst sehen, so mag man das ; aber es ist an- 
geborene Kunst, nicht gesuchte, obschon Luther sie mit 
Bewusstsein angewendet hat. 

Auch die Eigenheiten seines Satzbaus erklaeren sich aus der 
lebendigen Rede. Oft finden wir ein lockeres Gefuege, wenig 
Unterordnung ; Gedanke reiht sich eben an Gedanke, wie er im 
Augenblick kommt, in einfachster Form, noch ehe die Arbeit 
logischer Unterordnung begonnen hat. Selbst die vermittelnden 
Konjunktionen koennen zwischen ihnen fehlen, der Redende 
spart sie, um seine Worte wirkungsvoller zu machen, und er- 
setzt das Fehlende durch den Ton. Oft draengen zwei, drei 
und mehr Nebengedanken sich herzu, sie werden alle im Augen- 



138 Thirty -Five Years of Luther Research 

blick, sowie sie kommen, in der lebendigen Rede mitgenommen, 
schliesslich ist die urspruenglich begonnene Form des Satzes 
darueber vergessen, und es entsteht, bei Luther nicht selten, das 
Anakoluth. Anderwaerts begegnen wir bei ihm wieder Satz- 
schachtelungen. Sie erwachsen aus derselben Wurzel. Auch sie 
beruhen wesentlich darauf, dass der Redende all die Gesicht- 
spunkte, die gleichzeitig in Betracht kommen, auch gleichzeitig 
und mit eins seinen Hoerern zu Gehoer bringen will, ohne dass 
er sich, wie der Schreibende das kann und soil, die Zeit goennt, 
zu sehen, ob nicht das Gleiche durch eine kunstvollere Anord- 
nung und Verteilung auch erreicht wird. Hier von dem Ein- 
fluss der Kanzleisprache zu reden, wie man das tut, ist ver- 
kehrt, es heisst Luthers Stil, der aus der lebendigen Rede er- 
wachsen ist, missverstehen. 

Endlich ist auch die oft freie Wortfolge, das Weglassen der 
Hilfszeitwoerter "sein" und "haben," der pronominalen Sub- 
jekte, wo sie leicht aus dem Zusammenhang sich ergeben, das 
einmalige Setzen des Artikels bei Verbindungen von Woertern 
verschiedenen Geschlechtes und sogar verschiedenen Nummerus7 
das einmalige Setzen des "zu" vor Verbindungen mehrerer In- 
finitive, die haeufige Silbenkuerzung durch Apokope und Syn- 
kope, wie endlich auch die Vorliebe zu alliterierenden und rei- 
menden Gleichklaengen, alles dieses ist aus der lebendigen Rede 
zu erklaeren, wie es denn im Volksliede gang und gaebe ist und 
noch bei Goethe, "dem Knecht Luthers" wie ihn der Staatsrat v. 
Merian genannt hat, vielfach begegnet. 

Wie Luther ein geborener Redner war, so ist er ein Redner 
auch da, wo er schreibt, in jedem Satz, in jedem Wort. Laut 
gesprochen wollen seine Worte sein, nicht stumm gelesen, wenn 
man den Zauber dieser Sprache und Darstellung, das frische 
Leben, den rednerischen Akzent, Satzbau, Ton und Fall seiner 
Saetze und Perioden an sich erfahren und verstehen will. Dann 
wird auch der Reiz seiner Schriften, der bisher noch nicht er- 
waehnt ist, dass aus jeden Luther'schen Schrift die Persoenlich- 
keit des Mannes, bald diese bald jene Seite mehr beleuchtet, 
-zutage tritt, zu wirkungsvoller Geltung kommen. Noch mag 
hier eine Aeusserung des Kurfuersten von Sachsen Johann 
Friedrich ueber Luthers Schriften einen Platz finden, die Auri- 
faber in der Vorrede zu der Eisleben'schen Sammlung 




m 



Foot Notes 139 

Luther'scher Schriften (1564) mitteilt; "Der Kurfuerst pflegte 
ofte zu mir zu sagen, dass Luthers Buecher herzeten, durch 
Mark und Bein gingen und reichen Geist in sich haetten. Denn 
wenn er gleich einen Bogen von anderer Theologen Schriften 
lese und nur ein Blaetlin Luther dagegen hielte, so befuende er 
mehr Safts und Krafts, denn in ganzen Bogen anderer Scriben- 
ten." (1. c. p. 21 ff.) 

Gillhoff in praise of the language of the Small Catechism 
writes in part as follows : "Es ist ein ganz merkwuerdiges Auf- 
und Niederwogen, wie wir es vielleicht in der ganzen Literatur 
nicht wiederfinden. Und in diese Rhythmen schmiegt sich leicht 
und sicher ein Stoff, von dem niemand sagen kann, dass er 
Musik und Rythmus in sich trage, wie etwa ein Volkslied seine 
Melodie. Das ist ueberstroemende Tonfuelle und zugleich vol- 
lendete Meisterung deutscher Volksart und deutscher Volks- 
sprache. Und die einzelnen Wendungen wachsen und dehnen 
sich aus. Umfangreichere Figuren tauchen auf, greifen inein- 
ander, bewegen sich in denselben Schwingungen. Einfache 
Wortf uegungen werden abgeloesst von praepositionalen Figuren ; 
kurze syntaktische Tongebilde uebernehmen weiterhin die Fuehr- 
ung. An die Stelle der zwei Glieder treten gar drei. Spielend 
leicht greifen sie Nebenmotive und Geleittoene auf, fuehren sie 
fort, weben sie ineinander, und ihre hoechste Bluete erreicht diese 
dreigliedrige Komposition in der beruehmten unvergleichlichen 
Erklaerung zum anderen Artikel. 

"Wenn jemals ein Sprachmeister erstand, der in den einfachs- 
ten Toenen tiefste Geheimnisse aussprach, so war es hier. Wenn 
jemals in deutscher Sprache und Art ein im kleinen Rahmen 
ueberschaubares Kunstwerk deutscher Prosa geschaffen wurde, 
so geschah es hier, wenn jemals die Goetter einen Mann seg- 
neten, dass er, bewusst oder unbewusst, ein vollendetes Werk 
der Volkskunst schuf auf dem Boden des Volks und seiner 
Beduerfnisse, in der Art des Volks und mit den Ausdrucks- 
mitteln seiner Sprache, zum Heil des Volks und seiner Jugend 
durch die Jahrhunderte, so war es hier. Die Erklaerung zum an- 
deren Artikel ist ein Hauptstueck der Heimatkunst deutscher 
Poesie. Aber sie ist es vor allem um deswillen, weil sie nicht 
aus duerrer Umgebung hervorragt und allein auf sich den Blick 
lenkt. Sie ist es nur um deswillen, weil sie in sich zusammen- 



140 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

fasst und kroent, was durchgaengiger Charakter des Buechleins 
ist." (1. c. p. 15, 16.) 

Alfred Goetze characterizes the German literature of the 
period of the Reformation as follows: "Man hat in der Litera- 
tur des 16. Jahrhunderts von einer Reformationspause ge- 
sprochen. Der Ausdruck birgt ein Koernlein Wahrheit und eine 
grosse Ungerechtigkeit. Gewiss sind von der gewaltigen re- 
ligioesen Anspannung der Zeit zugleich mit andern geistigen 
Kraeften auch die literarischen eine Zeit lang zurueckgedraengt 
worden; gewiss hat die Reformation, wie in die nationale und 
politische Entwicklung, so auch in die literarische einen neuen 
Gegensatz getragen, in dem sie die Glaubenseinheit der mittel- 
alterlichen Gesellschaft aufhob. Aber keineswegs kann man 
behaupten, dass die Epoche, die das geistige Leben der neuen Zeit 
bestimmt hat, in der Gemuet und Geist ihr Gepraege erhalten 
haben auf Jahrhunderte hinaus, fuer die Literatur ausfalle. 
Geistige Freiheit, Idealismus und Sittlichkeit, den ungehammten 
Zug zur Wahrheit und die Wucht der Sprache hat auch die 
Dichtung der neuen Zeit als Erbteil der Reformation bekommen: 
Daneben koennte die eigene poetische Leistung der Reformation 
getrost zuruecktreten als eine gleichgueltige Nebenfrucht, zu- 
faellig gereift da, wo so viel Gewaltigeres im Keim angelegt 
wurde. Tatsaechlich aber ist das alles beherrschende religioese 
Interesse der Reformationszeit durchaus nicht poesiefeindlich 
gewesen. Es bedurfte vielmehr der Hilfe der Dichtung, und 
die f uehrenden Geister sind sich dessen f rueh bewusst geworden : 
Luther selbst ist zu allem auch ein grosser Dichter gewesen. 
Im Beruf des Vaters wie im Wesen der Mutter greift ihm das 
Poetische am naechsten zum Herzen. Diese Zuege sind es, die 
ihn in der bunten Kirchlichkeit der Bergstadt Mans f eld, der 
duesteren Asketik Magdeburgs, in Heiligendienst und Aber- 
glauben ruehren und fesseln. Die Natur der goldenen Aue und 
der heitere Sinn ihrer Bewohner praegen ihn zum hurtlgen, 
froehlichen Gesellen, sangesfroh und wunderbar frisch in der 
Beobachtung alles dessen, was ihm vor Augen tritt, dazu von 
einer packenden Gewalt der Sprache, die all dieser Beobachtung 
Leben und Farbe durch vier Jahrhunderte geliehen hat. Auf 
sprachlichem Gebiet liegt denn die Grosstat Luthers, mit der 
er am unwidersprochensten und breitesten gewirkt hat: Der 



Foot Notes 141 

Reformator, der das geistige Leben der Reformation neu be- 
gruendet, schafft auch die Form neu, in der es einherstroemen 
und wachsen kann, — eine Leistung, wie sie auf sprachlichem 
Gebiet kein zweiter Deutscher aufzuweisen hat. Er fuellt die 
junge Schriftsprache mit dem gewaltigsten Inhalt in Bibelue- 
bersetzung und Exegese, Predigt und Polemik, — alle auch an 
poetischem Gewinn so reich, dass es fuer Luthers Dichtergroesse 
fast nich noetig waere, dass er selbst auch als Dichter das Wort 
ergriffen haette. Er hat es getan, gewaltiger als irgend ein 
Zeitgenosse, und hat seiner Kirche das Kirchenlied geschaffen, 
das sie brauchte. Die gewaltige Bewegung lebt und arbeitet 
darin, aber alle persoenlichen Beziehungen sind abgestreift : 
Darum traegt Luthers Dichtung den Stempel ewiger Geltung." 
(Die Religion in Geschichte u. Gegenwart III, p. 2256.) 

65 G. Kawerau, Geschichte der Reformation und Gegenref or- 
mation, 2. ed., 1899, p. 34 ; cf r. also : Deutsche Literaturzeitung, 
1893, col. 1582. — F. v. Bezold, Luthers Rueckkehr von der Wart- 
burg (Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch.), 1900. — G. Kawerau, Luthers 
Rueckkehr von der Wartburg, 1902. — H. Barge, Andreas Boden- 
stein von Karlstadt, 1905. — K. Mueller, Luther und Karlstadt, 
1907. — H. Barge, Fruehprotestantisches Gemeindechristentum in 
Wittenberg und Orlamuende, 1909. — N. Mueller, Die Witten- 
berger Bewegung, 1521 und 1522, 2d ed., 191 1 (first published in: 
Archiv fuer Reformationsgesch, 1909-1910). 

66 w. Walther, Heinrich VIII. von England und Luther, 1908. 

67 J. Gottschick, Luthers Anschauungen vom christlichen Got- 
tesdienst und seine tatsaechliche Reform desselben, 1887. — P. 
Gruenberg, Die reformatorischen Ansichten und Bestrebungen 
Luthers und Zwinglis in Bezug auf den Gottesdienst (Theol. 
Studien und Kritiken), 1888. — E. Achelis, Studien ueber das 
geistliche Amt (Theol. Studien und Kritiken), 1898. — J. Hans, 
Der protestantische Kultus, 1890. — G. Rietschel, Luthers Lehre 
vom Gottesdiendienst (Halte was du hast), 1895. — E. Achelis, 
Die Entstehungszeit von Luthers geistlichen Liedern, 1884. — G. 
Kawerau, Liturgische Studien zu Luthers Taufbuechlein von 
1523 (Z. f. k. Wissenschaft u. k. Leben), 1889. — Groeszler, Wann 
und wo entstand das Lutherlied : Ein feste Burg, etc., 1905. — Fr. 
Spitta, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, 1905. — Fr. Spitta, Studien 
zu Luthers Liedern (Monatschrift fuer Gottesdienst und kirchl. 



142 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

Kunst), 1906 (Opposite opinions are held f. i. by Tschackert, 
Drews, Koehler, Kawerau, Albrecht) . — Fr. Zelle, Das aelteste 
lutherische Hausgesangbuch. Mit Einleitung und textkritischem 
Kommentar, 1903. — J. Zahn, Die Melodieen der deutsch-evangel. 
Kirche, 1898 ff. — A. Leitzmann, Luthers geistliche Lieder, 1907. — 
Ph. Wolf rum, Die Entstehung und erste Entwicklung des deutsch 
evangl. Kirchenlieds in musikalischer Beziehung, 1890.— F. Zelle, 
Die Singweisen der aeltesten evangl. Lieder, 1899. — J. Bachmann, 
Die Entstehungszeit der geistlichen Lieder Luthers (Zeitschr. f. 
kirchl. Wissenschaft, etc.), 1884-1885. — P. Althaus, Die histori- 
schen und dogmatischen Grundlagen der lutherischen Tauflitur- 
gie, 1893. — G. Rietschel, Luthers Lehre von der Kindertaufe und 
das lutherische Taufformular (Festschrift fuer J. Koestlin), 1896. 

68 O. Albrecht, Studien zu Luthers Schrift an die Ratsherrn 
(Theol. Studien u. Krit), 1897. — M. Schiele, Preuszische Jahr- 
buecher, June number, 1908, refuted by A. Sellschopp, Was der 
Herausgeber der Religionsgeschichtlichen Volksbuecher ueber 
die Bedeutung Luthers und des Luthertums fuer Schule und 
Erziehung weiss und was er nicht weiss (Los von Luther), 191 IT 
— Cfr. also Mayer u. Prinzhorn, Luthers Gedanken ueber Er- 
ziehung und Unterricht, 1883. — Froehlich, Die Klassiker der 
Paedagogik, vol. 28. — Lindner, Luthers paedagogische Schriften 
(Paedagogische Kalssiker XV.). Also the articles on Luther in 
the different encyclopedias of pedagogics. Also Wagner, Luther 
als Paedagog. — Luther als Erzieher (Berlin, Warneck), 1902.— 
G. Mertz, Das Schulwesen der deutschen Reformationszeit, 1902. 

69 Ferd. Cohrs, Die evangelischen Katechismusversuche vor 
Luthers Enchiridion, 1900-1902. — G. Buchwald, Zur Wittenberger 
Stadt-und Universitaetsgeschichte in der Reformationszeit, 1893. 
— G. Buchwald, Stadtschreiber M. Stephan Roth in Zwickau 
(Archiv fuer Geschichte des deutschen Buchhandels), 1893. — G. 
Buchwald, Die Entstehung der Katechismen Luthers, 1894. — 
M. Reu, Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des kleinen Katechismus 
(Kirchliche Zeitschrift), 1894. — G. Rietschel, Luthers Kleiner 
Katechismus in Tafelform (Studien u. Kritiken), 1898. — Ferd. 
Cohrs, Katechismen Luthers (Haucks Real-Encyklopaedie), 
1901. — A. Ebeling, Historisch kritische Ausgabe von M. Luthers 
kleinem Katechismus, 1901. — K. Knoke, Ausgaben des Luther- 
ischen Enchirdious bis zu Luthers Tod und Neudruck der Wit- 



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Foot Notes 143 

tenberger Ausgabe von 1535, 1903.— O. Albrecht, Luthers kleiner 
Katechismus nach der Wittenberger Ausgabe von 1540 (Jahr- 
buecher der koeniglichen Akademie gemeinnuetziger Wissen- 
schaften zu Erfurt), 1904. — K. Knoke, D. Martin Luthers kleiner 
Katechismus nach den aeltesten Ausgaben in hochdeutscher, 
niederdeutscher und lateinischer Sprache, 1904. — O. Albrecht, 
Zur Bibliographie und Textkritik des kleinen Katechismus (Ar- 
chiv fuer Reformationsgeschichte), 1903-1905. — 0. Albrecht, Der 
kleine Katechismus D. M. Luthers nach der Ausgabe von 1536, 
1905. — O. Albrecht, Katechismusstudien (Theologische Studien 
und Kritiken). 1907-1909. — O. Albrecht, Die Katechismen 
Luthers (Weimar Edition of Luther's Works, vol. 30), 1910. — 
M. Reu, Quellen zur Geschichte des kirchlichen Unterrichts im 
evang. Deutschland zwischen 1530 und 1600. I. Quellen zur 
Geschichte des Katechismusunterrichts, 1st vol., 1904; 26. vol., 
191 1 ; 3d vol., 1916. II, Quellen zur Geschichte des biblischen 
Unterrichts, 1906. — M. Reu, Religious Instruction in the 16th 
Century (Lutheran Church Review), 1915-1916. — M. Reu, Die 
grosse Bedeutung des kleinen Katechismus Luthers, 1913. — M. 
Reu, Katechetik, 1915. — A. Hardeland, Luthers Katechismusge- 
danken in ihrer Entwicklung bis zum Jahre 1529, 1913. — Joh. 
Meyer, Luthers grosser Katechismus. Textausgabe mit Bezeich- 
nung seiner Predigtgrundlagen und Einleitung, 1914. 

70 R. Sohm, Lehrbuch des Kirchenrechts, I vol. 1892.— Th. 
Kolde, Luthers Gedanken von der ecclesiola in der ecclesia 
(Zeitschr. fuer. Kirchengesch.), 1893. — E. Brandenburg, Luthers 
Anschauung von Staat und der Gesellschaft, 1901. — Th. Kolde, 
Der Staatsgedanke der Reformation und der roemischen 
Kirche, 1903. — W. Koehler, Zu Luthers Kirchenbegriff (Christl. 
Welt, 16), 1907. — P. Drews, Entsprach das Staatskirchentum dem 
Ideal Luthers (Zeitschr. f. Theol. und Kirche), 1908. — H. Her- 
melink, Zu Luthers Gedanken ueber Idealgemeinden und von 
weltlicher Obrigkeit (Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch.), 1908. — K. 
Mueller, Kirche, Gemeinde und Obrigkeit nach Luther, 1910. — 
K. Holl, Luther und das landesherrliche Kirchenregiment, 191 1. — 
G. v. Schulthesz-Rechberg, Luther, Zwingli und Kalvin in ihren 
Ansichten ueber das Verhaeltnis von Staat und Kirche, 1909. 
— G. Jaeger, Politische Ideen Luthers (Pr. Jahrb.), 1903. — 
L. H. Waring, the political theories of M. Luther, 1910. — Com- 



144 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

pare: Fr. Lezius, Luthers Stellung z. tuerkischen Weltmacht 
(Baltische Monatsschrift). — W. Jannasch, Luther und die Tuer- 
ken (Christ. Welt), 1916. — Fr. Lezius, Vom Politischen Genius 
nach Luther (Baltische Monatsschrift). — K. Sell, Der Zusam- 
menhang von Reformation u. politischer Freiheit (Theolog. Ar- 
beiten aus dem rheinisch-wissenschaft. Predigerseminar, Neue 
Folge, Heft 12), 1910. — A. C. McGiffert, Rise of Modern Re- 
ligious Ideas, 1915. — Still of value is : E. de Laveleye, Protestan- 
ism and Catholicism in their bearing upon the liberty and pros- 
perity of nations, 1875. — A splendid essay is : H. v. Treitschke, 
Luther u. die deutsche Nation (Preuss, Jahrbuecher), 1883. 

71 W. Stolze, Der deutsche Bauernkrieg, 1907. — H. Boehmer, 
Urkunden zur Geschichte des Bauernkriegs und der Wieder- 
taeufer, 1910. — K. Strode, Das evangelische Element im deut- 
schen Bauernkrieg (Deutsch-evang. Blaetter), 1900. — Th. Som- 
merlad, Die wirtschaftliche und soziale Bedeutung der deutschen 
Reformation (Deutsch-evang. Blaetter), 1895. — P. F. Schrecken- 
bach, Luther u. d. Bauernkrieg, 1895. — Th. Sommerlad's short but 
instructive article: "Bauernkrieg" in "Die Religion in Geschichte 
und Gegenwart," 1. vol., 1909. — W. Vogt, Bauernkrieg (Haucks 
R. E.), 1897. — R. W. Solle, Reformation und Revolution, Der 
deutsche Bauernkrieg und Luthers Stellung in demselben, 1897. — 
K. Kaser, Politische u. soziale Bewegungen im deutschen Buer- 
gertum z. Beginn des 16. Jahrhunderts, 1899. — L. Feuchtwanger, 
Geschichte der sozialen Politik u. d. Armenwesens i. Zeitalter d. 
Reformation, 1908. — F. v. Bezold, Staat u. Gesellschaft d. Refor- 
mationszeitalters, 1908. — Especially, B. Riggenbach, das Armen- 
wesen der Reformation, 1883. — M. v. Nathusius, Die christlich- 
sozialen Ideen der Reformationszeit und ihre Herkunft, 1897. — 
F. Lezius, Luthers Stellung zu den sozialen Fragen seiner Zeit, 
1898. — R. Seeberg, Luthers Stellung zu den sittlichen und so- 
zialen Noeten seiner Zeit, 2. ed., 1902. 

72 w Walther, Ein Merkmal des Schwaermergeistes, 1898. — 
W. Walther, Das Zeugnis des H. Geistes nach Luther und nach 
moderner Schwaermerei, 1899. — W. Walther, Die falsche Geist- 
lichkeit der Schwaermer (Zur Wertung der deutschen Reforma- 
tion), 1909. — W. Walther, Luther und die Schwarmgeister (Die 
14, algemeine Evg. — lutherische Konferenz), 1913. — R. Gruetz- 
macher, Wort und Geist, 1902. — K. Otto, Die Anschauung vom 



Foot Notes 145 

heil. Geist bei Luther, 1898. — J. Gottschick, Die Lehre der Refor- 
mation von der Taufe, 1906. — A. Hegler, Beitraege zur Ge- 
schichte der Mystik in der Reformationszeit, 1906. — A. Hegler, 
Geist u. Schrift bei Sel. Franck, 1892. — O. Scheel, Wider die 
himmlischen Profeten (1. suppl. vol. of the Braunschweig-Berlin 
Luther Edition), 1905. — O. Scheel, Individualismus und Gemein- 
schaftschristentum in der Auseinandersetzung Luthers mit Karl- 
stadt (Zeitschr. f. Theol. u. Kirche), 1907. — Cfr. also P. Wappler, 
Inquisition und Ketzerprozesse in Zwickau, dargestellt im Zu- 
sammenhang mit der Entwicklung der Ansichten Luthers und 
Melanchthons ueber Glaubens-und Gewissensfreiheit, 1908. — 
Compare N. Paulus Protestantismus u. Toleranz i. 16. Jahrhun- 
dert, 191 1. — K. Voelker, Toleranz u. Intoleranz i. Zeitalter d. 
Reformation, 1912. — T. A. Faulkner, Luther and toleration, 1914. 
— P. Wappler, Die Taeuferbewegung in Thueringen, 1913. — C. 
Sachsse, Balth. Hubmaier als Theologe, 1914. 

73 F. Lezius, Zur Charakteristik des religioesen Standpunkts 
des Erasmus, 1895. — J. v. Walter, Das Wesen der Religion nach 
Erasmus und Luther, 1906. — M. Richter, Erasmus und seine 
Stellung zu Luther, 1907. — K. Zickendraht, Der Streit zwischen 
Erasmus und Luther ueber die Willensfreiheit, 1909. — J. v. 
Walter, De libero arbitrio des Erasmus, 1910. — J. v. Walter, Die 
neueste Beurteilung des Erasmus, 191 1. — O. Scheel, 2. supple- 
mentary vol. Braunschweig-Berlin Luther edition, 1905. — K. 
Stange, Die reformatorische Lehre von der Freiheit des Handelns 
(Neue Kirchl Zeitschr.), 1903. — K. Stange, Die Bedeutung der 
lutherischen Lehre von der Praedestination (The Lutheran 
Quarterly), 1904. 

74 W. Walther, Die ref ormierte Taktik im Sakramentsstreit der 
Reformationszeit (Neue kirchl. Zeitschrift), 1896. — K. Jaeger, 
Luthers religioeses Interesse an seiner Lehre von der Realprae- 
senz, 1900. — K. Thimme, Entwicklung u. Bedentung der Sacra- 
mentslehre Luthers (N. kirchl. Zeitschrift), 1901. — Fr. Graebke, 
Die Konstruktion der Abendmachtslehre Luthers in ihrer Ent- 
wickdlung dargestellt, 1908. — H. Rallies, Der lutherische Sakra- 
mentsbegriff, 1908. 

75 Th. Kolde, Die Augsburger Konfession, lateinisch und 
deutsch, kurz erlaeutert, Mit fuenf Beilagen : 1. Die Marburger 
Artikel; 2. Die Schwabacher Artikel; 3. Die Torgauer Artikel; 



146 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

4. Die Confutatio pontificia; 5. Die Augustana von 1540 (Vari- 
ata) ; 26. ed., 191 1. — K. Schornbaum, Zur Politik des Markgrafen 
Georg von Brandenburg, 1906. — K. Schornbaum, Zur Politik der 
Reichsstadt Nuernberg, 1906. — H. von Schubert, Buendnis und 
Bekenntnis 1529-1530, 1910. — H. von Schubert, Bekenntnisbildung 
und Religiouspolitik, 1910. — Th. Kolde, Marburger Religions 
gespraech (Hauck's Real-Encyklopaedie), 1903. — Compare also: 
E. Egli, Luther und Zwingli in Marburg (Theol. Zeitschrift aus 
der Schweiz), 1884. — B. Bess, Luther in Marburg (Preussische 
Jahrbuecher, vol. 104). 

76 Th. Kolde, Die aelteste Redaktion der Augsburger Konfes- 
sion mit Melanchthons Einleitung zum ersten Mai herausgegeben 
und geschichtlich gewuerdigt, 1906. — Th. Kolde, Neue Augus- 
tanastudien (N. kirchl. Zeitschrift), 1906. — C. A. H. Burckhardt, 
Luthers und des Kurfuersten Reise nach Koburg, bez. Augsburg 
1530 (Zeitschr. f. kirchl. Wissenschaft und kirchl. Leben), 1887. 
— G. Buchwald, Ungedruckte Predigten Luthers von der Koburg, 
1884. — G. Buchwald, Unbekannte Predigten Luthers von der 
Koburg, 1916. 

77 A. Thoma, Katharina von Bora, 1900. — E. Kroker, Katharina 
von Bora, 1906. — W. Kawerau, Die Reformation und die Ehe, 
1892. — Compare: S. Baranowski, Luthers Lehre von der Ehe, 
1913. — W. Ebstein, Dr. Martin Luthers Krankheiten und deren 
Einfluss auf seinen koerperlichen und geistigen Zustand, 1908. 

78 L. Cardauns, Die Lehre vom Widerstandsrecht des Volks 
gegen die rechtmaessige Obrigkeit im Luthertum und Calvinis- 
mus des 16. Jahrhunderts, 1903. 

79 w e gi ve the whole passage of the "Kirchenordnung" for 
Pommern of 1534 (printed 1535). Here we read: 

Van examinatoribus. — "Wert vor gut angeseen, dat de pre- 
dicanten to Stettin tosammende in deme orde, und alle predican- 
ten torn Griepswolde eder torn sunde des ordes, unde de pedican- 
ten to Colberge in dem sulvigen orde examinatores sind, also dat 
wor men einen predicanten annehmen will, dat men den hen- 
sende in de negeste Stadt van den dreen, dat he dar examiniert 
werde, effte he duechtig si gades wort to leeren unde seelen sorge 
up sick to nehmen, unde dat he dar eine korte rede dho, eine halve 
stunde lank vam gesette unde evangelio, geloven und werken; 
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Foot Notes 147 

overicheit holde. Unde so he duechtig in der leere gefunden 
wert, schoelen de suelvigen predicanten eine schriftlicke tuech- 
nisse geven siner leere; dar na mach de gemene, de solcken pre- 
dicanten bogeret, dorch de ienen den solckes bevalen is, as noem- 
lick dorch den rat und alle casten, diakene eder andere, de dat 
ius patronatus hebben, solcken predicanten annehmen unde dem 
bischop presentieren, mit antoegingen siner gnaden, dat dese si 
ein ehrlick man unde unberuechtiget, siner leere oeverst halven, 
wert he tuechenisse van den examinatoribus, unde denne schall 
em de bischop vor holden, noemlick dat he schall dat wort gades 
truwlick und vlitich prediken, unde sick der ordeninge deses 
landes unverruecklick na holden, unde ein ehrlick tuechtich 
levend voeren, van den sacramenten christlick, samt den anderen 
deses landes eindrechtichlick holden gehorsam sin siner over- 
icheit in alien billicken dingen, und solcken gehorsam ock leren, 
unde wo he gefunden wuerde hirwider to doende, dat he entsettet, 
unde ock wo he in froemde unrechte leere unde gebruck der sac- 
ramente vele, vorwiset werden scholle; darna schall ehne de 
bischop bestedigen, und also bestediget schicken der kerken, de en 
fordert. Wat hir oeverst to gevende si vor breve unde segel, 
schall de kercke utrichten. 

Darna up einen sondach schall de suelvige predicant dor dem 
altare, so idt eine stadt is, na der epistel mit upleginge der hende 
dorch de anderen predicanten, unde etlicke van der gemene, unde 
den oldeaten angenamen werden unde der kerken bevalen mit den 
ceremonien in der Luebischen ordeninge vorvatet. 

So idt overst ein dorp is, schoelen de negesten beide parhern 
ehne annehmen unde bestedigen in siner kerken na der sulvigen 
wise." 

79a We add the letter of Luther, dated October 24, 1535, show- 
ing Luther's and Bugenhagen's view. It reads : Suo in Domino 
fratri carissimo Friderico Myconio, ministro Christi in Ecclesia 
Gothensi fidelissimo et suavissimo. — Gratiam et pacem in Christo. 
Remittimus vestrum Joannem per vos vocatum et electum, per 
nos quoque examinatum, et publice coram nostra Ecclesia inter 
orationes et laudes Dei in vestrum comministrum ordinatum et 
connrmatum ad mandatum Principis nostri, licet D. Pomeranus 
non satis facilis ad hoc fuerit, ut qui adhuc sentit, quemlibet in 
Ecclesia sua ordinandum per suos presbyteros. Quod net tandem, 



148 Thirty -Five Years of Luther Research 

ubi ista res nova et ordinatio radices altius egerit, et mos firmior 
factus fuerit. Commendamus eum vobis, ut dignum est. Et 
simul pro nobis orate, sicut nos pro vobis. Nihil novarum hie est. 
Valete omnes in Christo. Feria 4. post Lucae 1535. — Si testi- 
monio aliquando ei fuerit opus, ex vobis dari satis fuerit, cum 
aliquantum ministraverit. — T. Martinus Luther. 

We also add the passage of the "Kirchenordnung" for Luebeck 
to which Bugenhagen here refers. Here we read: 

Des sondages, wen de epistole gelesen is, balde schall ein 
prediker edder capellan up dem predickstole alse vermanen: 
Leven Frunde in Christo, gi weten, dat wi apenbar gebeden heb- 
ben, dat uns godt umme Christus willen wolde toschicken einen 
superattendenten, pastorem edder parner, capellaen edder pre- 
diker. Dar baven habben de, den idt bevalen is, ock eren deenst 
und vlit dar to gedaen und erwelet N., welcken se so vele min- 
schliken gerichte und vorstande mogelick, achten erlick, tuchtich, 
sedich, nicht girich, unstraflick vor sick und de sinen, de he bi 
sick plecht to hebbende, darto geweldig mit dem worde des heren, 
de conscientie undertorichtende, und den weddersprekeren den 
mund to stoppende, alse Paulus torn Timotheo und Tito leret, und 
Christus ock vam truwen hussholdere Matth. 24. Darumme bid- 
det, dat godt dorch Jesum Christum unsen heren em gnade geve, 
sulck amt uns tor salicheit tovorende gedenket jo, welk ein exem- 
pel Christus uns sulvest gegeven hefft, alse Lucas schrifft im 6. 
cap., do he des morgens wolde vorderen unde erwehlen de 11 
apostelen torn predickampte, hedde he tovorne de gansen nacht 
gebedet allene up dem berge to gade, dat wi ock mit unsem bede 
gade dusse sake bevelen, so kan se nicht ovel geraden, wen wi ock 
na mogeliken vlite, einen Judas unwetende erweleden. Dusse N. 
avers schall nu vor dem altar mit sange un bede, und uplegginge 
der hende juwer leve vorgestellet werden, dat wi emn so in dus- 
sem unsem ampte der gnade gades bevelen, und dese gemene 
wete, dat dusser personen bi uns sulck ampt bevalen, si. Einen e. 
radt, de kerkveders, de borgere und gemene volk, junk und olt, 
vormane ick tobedende, dewile de kinder dat alleluia im chore 
singen. 

Dar up singen de kinder im chore haleluia, Veni sancte spiritus. 
Dewile averst, daz me so singet, kamen de pastores ut alien 
karken, und setten sick up de knee, mit dem ordinanden int mid- 



Foot Notes 149 

del gestellet, nedder vor dat altar, und beden hemelick bi sick. 
De averst de nagolgende collecta schall lesen, schall sick up de 
knee setten baven vor dat altar und ock beden. Darsumme 
motme in der karken, dar sulkes gescheen schal, eine halve stunde 
tidiger luden to der missen, dat de pastores konnen wedder tidich 
kamen to eren predickstolen, dar se ock scholen gemene bet don 
na de sermone vor den ordinatum 

So balde nu dat haleluia ute is mit der repeticie, staen alle pre- 
dicanten up und leggen dem sittenden ordinando de hende upt 
hovet, de averst baven vor dat altar sat, schall vor sinem ange- 
sichte staen, gekeret na dem volke, leggen ock sine hende mit den 
anderen up, und lesen dusse collecta edder gebet. 

Lat uns bidden. Almechtige ewige vader, de du hafft dorch 
unsen einigen mester Jesum Christum alse geleret, de arne is vele, 
averst weinich sint der arbeiders, darumme biddet den heren der 
anre, dat he arbeiders in sine arne sende, welcke worde uns vor- 
manen, gude arbeidere, dat sint predikere, van diner gnade mit 
ernstlickem bede to vordere. Wi bidden dine gruntlose barm- 
herticheit, dattu machst gnedich upseent up dussen dinen knecht, 
unsen erweleden prediker, dat he vlitick si mit dinem worde, 
Christum Jesum unse einige salicheit to predekende, de consci- 
ence to underrichtende und to trostende, to strafende, to bedrou- 
wende, to vormanende mit aller lanchmodicheit und lere, dat jo 
dat hillige evangelium reine ane todont minschliker lere stede bi 
uns blive und frucht bringe der ewigen salicheit mank uns alien, 
dorch den sulvigen Jesum Christum unsen heren. Respondetur 
amen. 

Dar up singet dat volk : Nu bidde wi den hilligen geest etc. und 
de pastores vallen up de knee und bevelen gade dorch Christum 
dusse sake. Balde averst staen se up under dem sange, und gaen 
erlick ut de karken, ein juwelick na sinem predickstole. Na dem 
sange prediket me etc. 

Sunderger kleder edder pracht dorve wi nicht to dusser sake, 
sunder allene, wo me seen mach, steit dusse vorgescrevene anne- 
minge up dussen twen nothliken stucken. Dat erste, dat wi de 
sake gade mit unsem bede bevelen. Dat ander, dat de gemene 
see und erkenne den, de torn predikampte und seelsorger erwelet 
is, dat se ene dar vor holde. Also gelt dusse vorordeninge vor 
gade und vor den luden tor salicheit. 



150 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

80 G. Rietschel, Luther und die Ordination, 2. ed. 1889. — E. 
Fischer, Zur Geschichte der Ordination (Theol. Studien u. Krit- 
iken), 1889. — Th. Kolde, Zur Geschichte der Ordination und 
Kirchenzucht (Theol. Studien u. Kritiken), 1894. — G. Buchwald, 
Das Wittenberger Ordiniertenbuch, i894f. — G. Rietschel, Luthers 
Ordinations f or mular in seiner urspruenglichen Gestalt (Theol. 
Studien u. Kritiken), 1895. — G. Buchwald, Wann hat Luther seine 
erste Ordination vollzogen (Th. St. u. Krit), 1896. — E. Sehling, 
Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen, I 1. p. 24ft"., 1903. — P. 
Drews, Die Ordination, Pruefung und Lehrverpflichtung der 
Ordinanden in Wittenberg 1535 (Deutsche Zeitschrift fuer 
Kirchenrecht), 1905. — G. Mentz, Friederich der Grossmuetige, 3 
vol., 1908. — G. Rietschel, Lehrbuch der Liturgik, 2. vol. 1909. — 
P. Drews, Weimar Luther Edition, vol. 38, 1912. — P. Vetter, Das 
aelteste Ordinationsformular der lutherischen Kirche (Archiv 
fuer Reform.), 1915. 

81 G. Mentz, die Wittenberger Artikel von 1536, Lateinisch und 
deutsch zum ersten mal herausgegeben, 1905. 

82 G. Kawerau, Briefwechsel des Justus Jonas, 1. vol. 1885.— 
H. E. Jacobs, The Lutheran Movement in England, 1894. — M. 
Reu, Quellen z. Geschichte des kirchl. Unterrichts zwischen 1530 
und 1600, I, 1. 2. 3. 1904. 191 1. 1916. — If it is not made impossible 
by the war, the present writer will republish this rare catechism 
in its original English form. Compare Grachner's article in W> 
Dau, Four Hundred Years, St. Louis, 1917, and E. H. Rausch in 
Kirchliche Zeitschrift (February), 1917. 

83 K. Zangemeister, Die Schmalkaldischen Artikel vom Jahre 
1537- Nach Dr. Martin Luthers Autograph in der Universitaets- 
bibliothek zu Heidelberg, 1883.— Th. Kolde, Luthers Motto zu 
den Schmalk. Artikeln (Zeitschr. f. •Kirchengesch.), 1887. — G. 
Kawerau, (eodem loco), 1888. — H. Virk, Zu den Beratungen der 
Protestanten ueber die Konzilsbulle vom 4. Juni 1536 (eodem 
loco), 1892. — Th. Kolde, Zur Geschichte d. Schmalk. Artikel 
(Theol. Studien u. Kritiken), 1894. — K. Thieme, Luthers Testa- 
ment wider Rom, 1900. — Th. Kolde, Schmalkald. Artikel (Haucks 
Realenzycl.), 1906. — Th. Kolde, Historische Einleitung i. d. sym- 
bolischen Buecher, 1907. — Fr. Kattenbusch, Luthers Stellung zu 
den oekumenischen Symbolen, 1883. 

83a G. Kawerau, Beitraege zur Geschichte des antinomistischen 



Foot Notes 151 

Streits (Beitraege z. Reformationsgeschichte, Koestlin gewid- 
met), 1896. 

84 M. Lenz, Der Briefwechsel des Landgraf en Philipp mit 
Bucer, 1. vol. 1880. — F. Koldewey, Der erste Versuch einer Recht- 
fertigung der Bigamie des Landgrafen (Theol. Studien und 
Kritiken), 1881. — W. Walther, Luther und die Bigamie (Theol. 
Studien und Kritiken), 1891. — W. Rockwell, Die Doppelehe des 
Landgrafen Philipp von Hessen, 1904. — N. Mueller, Zur Bigamie 
des Landgrafen Ph. v. Hessen (Archiv f. Reform.), 1904. — W. 
Koehler, (Historische Zeitschrift), 1905. — Th. Brieger, Luther 
und die Nebenehe des Landgr. Ph. (Preussische Jahrbuecher), 
1909, und (Zeitschrift f. Kirchengeschichte), 1908). — W. Koehler, 
Luther und die Luege, 1912. — cf. also G. Sodeur, Luther und die 
Luege, 1904. 

85 O. Reichert, Die Wittenberger Bibelrevisionskommissionen 
von 1531-1541 und ihr Ertrag fuer die deutsche Lutherbibel, 1905. 
Cf. also his article in Koffmane, Die handschriftliche Ueberlie- 
ferung von Werken Martin Luthers, 1907. — A. Risch, Welche 
Aufgaben stellt die Lutherbibel der wissenschaftlichen Forschung 
(Neue kirchl. Zeitschrift), 191 1. Cfr. note 64a and 64b. 

86 E. Brandenburg, Luther, Kursachsen und Magdeburg in den 
Jahren 1541 und 1542 (Deutsche Zeitschrift fuer Geschichtswis- 
senschaft), 1896. 

87 O. Albrecht, Erlaeuterungen zu der Naumburger Kirchen-u. 
Schulordnung von 1537 (Neue Mitteilungen d. thuering.-saechs- 
ischen Altertumsvereins), 1898 und 1900. — O. Albrecht, Medlers 
Naumburgen Kirchenordnung von 1537 (Monatsschrift f. Gottes- 
dienst u. kirchl. Kunst), 1898. — Compare also Albrecht's article in 
Theol. Studien u. Kritiken, 1898. 

88 G. Buchwald, Luther und die Juden, 1881. — R. Lewin, 
Luthers Stellung zu den Juden, 191 1. 

89 C. Wendeler, Luthers Bilderpolemik gegen das Papsttum von 
1545 (Archiv f. Literaturgeschichte), vol. 14. 

90 E. Schaef er, Luther als Kirchenhistoriker, 1897. — W. Koeh- 
ler, Luther und die Kirchengeschichte (until 1521), 1900. 

91 J. Haussleiter, Die geschichtliche Grundlage der letzten Un- 
terredung Luthers mit Melanchthon im Abendmahlsstreit, 1546 
(Neue kirchl. Zeitschrift), 1898. — J. Haussleiter, Weitere Mittei- 
lungen zur letzten Unterredung Luthers, etc. (eodem loco), 1899. 



152 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

92 J. Strieder, Authentische Berichte ueber Luther s letzte Le- 
bensstunden, 1912.— N. Paulus, Luthers Lebensende, 1897. 

93 L. von Ranke, Die roemischen Paepste der letzten vier Jahr- 
hunderte, 10. ed. 1900. — L. Pastor, Beschichte der Paepste seit 
dem Ausgang des Mittelalters, 1895-1909. — L. von Ranke, 
Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation, cheap and 
new edition, 1914. — G. Egelhaaf, Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter 
der Reformation, 3. ed. 1893. — G. Egelhaaf, Deutsche Geschichte 
im 16. Jahrhundert bis zum Augsburger Religionsfrieden, 1889- 
1892. — L. Haeusser, Geschichte des Zeitalters der Reformation, 
1903- — F. v. Bezold, Geschichte der deutschen Reformation, 1890. 
*—F. v. Bezold, Staat und Gesellschaft im Reformationszeitalter 
(Kultur der Gegenwart), 1908. — K. Lamprecht, deutsche Ge- 
schichte, 5 vol. 1806. — K. Brandi, Renaissance (Weltgeschichte 
von Pflugk-Harttung) , 1907. — Th. Brieger, die Reformation, 2. 
ed. 1914. — P. Wernle, Die Renaissance des Christentums im 16. 
Jahrhundert, 1904. — G. Mentz, Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter 
der Reformation, Gegenreformation u. des 30 jaehrigen Krieges, 
1914. — G. Kawerau, Reformation und Gegenreformation (Moel- 
lers Kirchengeschichte III), 3. ed. 1907. — Th. Lindsay, A History 
of the Reformation, 1906- 1907. — Cambridge Modern History. 
The Reformation, 1904. — Creighton, A History of the Papacy 
during the Reformation, 1899-1901. — H. Hermelink, Reformation 
und Gegenreformation (Krueger, Handbuch d. Kirchengesch. 
Ill), 1911. 

94 J. Ficker und O. Winckelmann, Handschriftenproben des 16. 
Jahrhunderts nach Strassburger Originalen, 1902-1905. — G. 
Mentz, Handschriften der Reformationszeit, 1912. — P. Schwenke, 
Adressbuch der deutschen Bibliotheken, 1893. 

95 Dahlmann-Waitz, Quellenkunde der deutschen Geschichte, 
herausgegeben von E. Brandenburg, 7. ed. 1906, Supplement 1907. 
— G. Wolf, Quellenkunde der deutschen Reformationsgeschichte. 
1 vol. : Vorreformation u. allgemeine Reformationsgeschichte, 
1915. — G. L. Kieffer, List of References of the Reformation in 
Germany, 1917. 

96 G. Buchwald, Zur Wittenberger Stadt-und Universitaetsge- 
schichte der Reformationszeit, 1893. — G. Buchwald, Der Stadt- 
schreiber M. Stephan Roth in seiner literarisch-buchhaendler- 
ischen Bedeutung (Archiv fuer den deutschen Buchhandel), 1893. 



Foot Notes 153 

** G. Kawerau, Johann Agricola von Eisleben, 1881. — Th. 
Kolde, Friederich der Weise, 1881. — G. Kawerau, K. Guettel, Ein 
Lebensbild aus Luthers Freundeskreis, 1882. — Zucker, Duerer und 
die Reformation, 1886. — Lindau, Lucas Cranach, 1883. — Grote, 
Lucas Cranach, 1883. — H. Hering, Dr. Pomeranus, Johann Bu- 
genhagen, ein Lebensbild aus der Reformation, 1888. — K. Werck- 
shagen, Luther und Hutten, 1886. — K. Sell, Philip Melanchthon 
und die deutsche Reformation bis 1531, 1897. — K. Hartfelder, 
Melanchthon als Praeceptor Germaniae, 1889. — E. Heidrich, 
Duerer und die Reformation, 1909. — G. Berbig, G. Spalatin und 
sein Verhaeltnis zu Martin Luther, 1906. — G. Berbig, Spalatini- 
ana, 1908. — F. Scherfig, Friederich Mekum von Lichtenfels, 1909. 
— Koerner, Erasmus Alber, 1910. — Fr. Kipp, Sylvester von 
Schaumburg, der Freund Luthers, 1912. — G. Anrich, Martin Bu- 
cer, 1914, etc., etc. Compare also the biographical articles in 
Hauck's Realenzyclopaedie. 

d8 Virck, Winckelmann und Bernay, Politische Korrespondenz 
Strassburgs aus der Reformationszeit, 1881-1898. — M. Lenz, Bu- 
cers Briefwechsel mit Philipp von Hessen, 1880-1891. — W. Frie- 
densburg, Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland, 1. part, 1533 ff., 
1892. — G. Kawerau, Briefwechsel des Justus Jonas, 1884-1885. — 
O. Vogt, J. Bugenhagens Briefwechsel, 1888. — A. Horawitz und 
K. Hartfelder, Briefwechsel des Conr. Mutianus, 1890. — P. 
Tschackert, Urkundenbuch der Reformationsgeschichte des Her- 
zogtums Preussen, 1890. — J. Foerstemann und O. Guenther, 
Briefe an Erasmus von 1520-1535, 1904. — L. Enthofen, Briefe an 
Erasmus, 1906. — F. Gess, Ackten und Briefe zur Kirchenpolitik 
Herzog Georgs von Sachsen, 1905. — E. Brandenburg, Politische 
Korrespondenz d. Herzog und Kurfuersten Moritz von Sachsen, 
1900.— O. Clemen, Georg Helts Briefwechsel, 1907.— P. S. Allen, 
Opus Epistularum Erasmi, 3 vols., 1906 ff. — J. L. French, The 
Correspondence of C. Schwenckfeldt and Philipp of Hesse, 1908. 
— W. Friedensburg, Briefe katholischer Theologen aus der Re- 
formationszeit (Zeitschrift fuer Kirchengeschichte), 1900 ff. 

99 O. Clemen, Flugschriften aus der ersten Zeit der Reforma- 
tion, 1907 ff.— O. Clemen, Alte Einblattdrucke, 1911.— E. Sehling, 
Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des 16. Jahrhunderts, 5 
vols., 1903 ff. — F. Cohrs, Katechismusversuche vor Luthers En- 
chiridion, 1900-1902. — M. Reu, Quellen zur Geschichte des kirch- 



154 Thirty-Five Years of Luther Research 

lichen Unterrichts im evangelischen Deutschland zwischen 1530 
und 1600, 6 vols., 1904-1916. 

100 E. Gothein, Die Lage des Bauernstandes am Ende des Mit- 
telalters (Westdeutsche Zeitschrift), 1885.— W. Vogt, Die Vor- 
geschichte des Bauernkrieges, 1887. — K. Kaser, Politische und 
soziale Bewegungen im deutschen Buergertum, 1899. — G. v. 
Below, Territorium und Stadt, 1900. — G. Caro, Probleme der 
deutschen Agrargeschichte, 1907. — W. Zimmermann, Geschichte 
des Bauernkrieges. Cheap edition, 1907. — Th. Sommerlad, Das 
Wirtschaftsprogramm des Mittelalters, 1908. — W. Stoltze, Der 
deutsche Bauernkrieg, 1908. — A. Kluckhohn, zur Geschichte der 
Handelsgesellschaften und Monopole im Zeitalter der Reforma- 
tion (Historische Aufsaetze dem Andenken an Georg Waitz 
gewidmet), 1886. — A. E. Harvey, Economic Self-interest in the 
German Anticlericalism of the 15. and 16. Centuries (Ameri- 
can Journal of Theology), 1915. — Compare H. C. Vedder, The 
Reformation in Germany, 1914. — Compare Note 71. 

101 G. Freytag, Doktor Luther, eine Schilderung, 1883.— Pliti- 
Petersen, Martin Luthers Leben, 1883. — J. Koestlin, Luthers 
Leben mit Illustrationen, 1883. — J. Koestlin, M. Luther der 
deutsche Reformator, 1883. — C. Burk, Martin Luther (1883), 2. 
ed., 1884.— M. Lenz, Martin Luther (1883), 3. ed., 1897.— W. 
Rein, Martin Luthers Leben, 1883. — M. Rade, Dr. Martin Luthers 
Leben, Thaten und Meiningen, dem Volk erzaehlt (1884), 2. ed., 
1901. — A. Stein, Das Buch von Dr. Luther (1888), 2. ed., 1904. — 
J. Dose, Der Held von Wittenberg und Worms, 1906. — J. von 
Dorneth, Martin Luther, sein Leben und sein, Wirken, 1912. — G. 
Buchwald, Dr. Martin Luther, 2. ed., 1914. — W. Wackernagel, 
Luthers Leben, 1883. — A. L. Graebner, Dr. Martin Luther, 1883. — 
H. E. Jacobs, Martin Luther. The Hero of the Reformation, 
1883.— A. C. MacGiffert, Martin Luther. The Man and His 
Work, 1912. — Pr. Smith, The Life and Letters of Martin Luther, 
191 1. — H. E. Jacobs, Life of Luther. Lutheran Survey, 1914-15. — 
H. v. Bezzel, Why We Love Luther (eodem loco), 1915. — H. 
Preuss, Unser Luther, 1917. — M. Reu, Life of Martin Luther, 
1917 (English edition by E. H. Rausch).— M. Reu, Dr. Martin 
Luthers Leben, Mit 92 Illustrationen, 191 7. — E. Singmaster, A. 
Popular Life of Martin Luther, 1907. — We also mention the 




§ •?; — -s S , — — Mra sat f {2t~; 



:*~- 



=ffi fJ^^^^vfeF^X £r^^F? i 



Title page of the first edition of Luther's 
Large Catechism, Wittenberg 1529. 



Foot Notes 155 

English translation of the Luther-Biographies of Koestlin, Rein, 
Freytag, etc. 

102 Ad. Hausrath, Luthers Leben, 2 vols. (1004), 3. ed., 1913. — 
A. E. Berger, Martin Luther in kulturgeschichtlicher Darstellung, 
1895 ff. 

103 Th. Kolde, Martin Luther, 2 vols., 1884-1893.— J. Koestlin, 
Martin Luther, Sein Leben und seine Schriften, 5. ed. revised by 
Kawerau, 2 vols., 1903. 

104 H. Boehmer, Luther im Licht der neuen Forschung. Ein 
kritischer Bericht, 3. ed., 1914.— H. Boehmer, Luther in the Light 
of Recent Research (translated by Huth), 1916, cheap edition, 
1917. 

105 J. Koestlin, Luthers Theologie, 2 vols., 1886.— K. Eger, Die 
Anschauungen Luthers vom Beruf, 1900. — W. Walther, Die 
christliche Sittlichkeit nach Luther, 1910. — A. Harnack, Lehrbuch 
der Dogmengeschichte, 4. ed., 3 vol., 1909. — F. Loofs, Leitfaden 
der Dogmengeschichte, 4. ed., 1906. — R. Seeberg, Lehrbuch der 
Dogmengeschichte, 1. ed., 2. vol., 1898. — P. Tschackert, Die Ent- 
stehung der lutherischen und reformierten Kirchenlehre, 1910. — 
O. Ritschl, Die Dogmengeschichte des Protestantismus, 1908-1912. 
— J. Gottschick, Luthers Theologie, 1914. 

106 E. Troeltsch, Die Bedeutung des Protestantismus fuer die 
Entstehung der modernen Welt, 1906. — Compare the articles of 
Brieger in Zeitschrift fuer Kirchengeschichte (1906), of Katten- 
busch in Theologische Rundschau (1907) and the review of W. 
Koehler in "Theologischer Jahresbericht" (1906 ff.). — F. Loofs, 
Luthers Stellung zum Mittelalter und zur Neuzeit, 1907.-^!!. 
Boehmer, Luther im Licht der neuen Forschung, 1. ed., 1906. — 
H. Hermelink, Reformation und Gegenreformation, 191 1. — A. 
Juelicher, Der religioese Wert der Reformation, 1913. 



Katechetik oder die Lehre vom kirchlichen Unterricht. 1915. 
Cloth, 444 pages. $2.50. 2nd edition. English edition in 
course of preparation. 

That, in a book of such importance and scope, much material might 
be found that another would have stated in different terms, is certain. 
It is not so certain, however, that this would have been an improvement. 
At any rate, the details that might come in for criticism are of small 
import compared with the excellence of the book as a whole. Hence, I 
shall only say: No one can afford to pass by this volume on catechetics, 
to whom the uplift of our Lutheran standards of instruction is a matter 
of deep concern. — Director Schaller, Wauwatosa, Wis. Dr. Reu's book 
represents the latest and best results of modern learning, and offers the 
catechist who desires to improve upon former methods of instruction so 
much material for study and so many suggestions for its practical ap- 
plication that we hope that it will be widely read also in our circles. 
One can only benefit by its diligent use. — Dr. Th. Mees, Columbus, Ohio. 



The Life of Dr. Martin Luther. Sketched for young people's 
societies and the necessary directions for general dis- 
cussion appended. 1917. Cloth, 210 pages. Chicago, 
Wartburg Publishing House. 35 cents. Done in English 
by Emil H. Rausch. 

At first glance this book does not impress one as being worthy of 
special mention. It is printed on thin paper, and is so small that it can 
easily be carried in the pocket. It is, however, printed in clear and 
legible type, and its contents are excellent. How fortunate the young 
people's society is that can study the material offered in the way sug- 
gested. — Dr. Stellhorn, Columbus, Ohio. — Although we did not receive a 
copy for review, we believe that we are doing our readers a service, in 
calling their attention to this book. The author has fully done justice to 
his task. His book is not merely an enumeration of the events of that 
period of history. It is a logical presentation of the development of the 
great Reformer. Special stress is laid upon the meaning and importance 
of Luther's work for the church of the present day. And all this is put 
in such clear, popular language, that every one who still has some taste 
for spiritual things will read this book with great interest. Young 
people's societies and their leaders will be especially thankful to the 
author. — Prof. H. E. Meyer, Wauwatosa, Wis. 



Dr. Martin Luthers Leben, fuer die reifere Jugend und das 
christliche Haus, von Dr. M. Reu. With 92 illustrations. 
Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago, 111. 1917- Cloth, 
283 pages. Price $1.00 plus 10%. 

Dr. Reu is one of the most prolific authors of the Lutheran Church in 
our country. To the books that he has written, he has again added 
another: Luthers Leben fuer die reifere Jugend und das christliche Haus. 
It is one of the best books that the anniversary year has produced, and 
is more profusely illustrated, so far as we know, than any other. The 
beautiful, clear type deserves special mention. If any one desires to add 
another book to the list of his anniversary volumes, or if he has no 
biography of the great Reformer, he should not pass by Dr. Reu's book. 
— Ev.-Luth. Gemeindeblatt. 



Quellen zur Geschichte des kirchlichen Unterrichts im evan- 
gelischen Deutschland zwischen 1530 und 1600. I. Quel- 
len zur Geschichte des Katechismusunterrichts : 1. Sued- 
deutsche Katechismen 1904. 808 pages. $5.10.-2. Mittel- 
deutsche Katechismen: a) Texte 1911. 1124 pages $6.25; 
b) Historisch-bibliographische Einleitung 1911. 496 
pages $3.40.— Ost-, Nord- und Westdeutsche Katechismen 
unter der Presse, about 1200 pages. — II. Quellen zur Ge- 
schichte des biblischen Unterrichts 1906. 124 and 1020 
pages $5.10. 

Reu's work commands the interest of all who are engaged in the 
scientific study of the chatechetical literature of the 16th century, and 
deserves unreserved appreciation (Dr. Knote — Goettingen, Theol. Litera- 
turzeitung).— An undertaking large in scope, a work deserving of highest 
merit (Dr. Drews— Halle, Deutsche Literaturzeitung).— A reference work 
of the first rank (Dr. v. Buerger — Muenchen). — It is surprising to what 
extent the author succeeded in gaining possession of original sources and 
other literature related to his subject (Dr. Kaverau— Berlin, Goettinger 
Gel. Anzeiger). — The author has enriched the field of catechetical lit- 
erature by a real standard work (Dr. Kolde — Erlangen, Beitr. z. bayr. 
Kirchengeschichte).— In spite of the difficulties caused by the fact that he 
lives so far removed from his field of research, the American author, by 
intense application and discerning judgment, has laid the foundation for 
a literary monument which we cannot welcome too thankfully (Dr. Smend 
— Strassburg). — Surely no one in Germany had dared to hope that we 
would so suddenly, and that from an American, receive such a thorough 
and scientific work as the "Quellen" (Dr. Kropatschel — Breslau).— An 
indispensible, inexhaustible and reliable source, the result of great 
diligence (Reichsbote). — It is almost a cause for shame upon German 
theologians, that a foreigner should perform such a task for us (Dr. O. 
Albrecht — Naumburg). — A product of untiring diligence and profound 
learning (Dr. F. Kohrs, Theol. Literaturbl., Leipzig).— A thankworthy un- 
dertaking, which offers valuable information both to the writer of church, 
and to the writer of profane history (Dr. Wolf — Freuburg i. Br.). — The 
author has opened the way for us into a beautiful garden, into which most 
of us have hardly cast a glance (Dr. Simons — Marburg). — A work that 
will greatly advance the work of research and which will remain in- 
dispensible for all future study (Dr. Schian — Giessen 1908). — How the 
author, who resides in America, succeeds in writing this excellent work 
of the sources is a riddle perhaps not only to the reviewer (Dr. Koehler 
— Zuerich). — Reu has cast a bright light upon the realm of religious 
education in the 16th century, not only upon the realm of textbooks, but 
also upon the whole realm of education. He offers the sources for in- 
dependent study; he also paves the way to their proper understanding. 
In the understanding of this realm of religious instruction, and thus 
also in the understanding of the Lutheranism of the century of the 
Reformation he has brought us a mighty step onward. Especially by 
the latest volume (1911) he has enriched us with a book which we hardly 
dared hope to receive so soon (Dr. Schian — Giessen 1912). — Untiring zeal 
which was spurred on, rather than hindred by the difficulties caused by 
the great distance from Germany has brought a great undertaking a 
mighty step onward. Reu reveals wonderful ability in tracing out hidden 
things, and in discovering things that had been forgotten.... The first 
part of the second volume (I 2") is called: "Historical-bibliographical 
Introduction." That title is too modest, for it offers more, namely, an 
accurate catechetical history of Sachsen-Thueringen, Schlesien, Hessen. 
In conclusion, let us again express our thanks for this great twofold gift 
of whose valuable contents a review even twice as long as the present one 
(it covers twelve pages) could not give an adequate description (Dr. 
1 g, Theol. " 



Simons— Marburg, Theol. Rundschau 1915, Heft 2). 



Die alttestamentlichen Perikopen nach der Auswahl von The 
masius, exegetisch-homiletisch bearbeitet. 1901 and 1906 
Cloth in one volume $4.00. 

- This book has renderer excelelnt service to me (Theol. Anzeiger) - 
Reu deserves unreserved thanks for having shown us that thoroueh 
exegesis, and a setting into the history of the time are Z fi , Ugh 
ciples in the homiletic use of the Old Testament "LlJZt Ter 
Wuerttemberg .-Reu has excellently performed his ask (Theol Literal 
blatt).-Scientifically accurate, as well as practical (Ev. Ki Ln tu^ " 

Tet^Ttrn^^-r' ^' * t6aCheS US t0 -derstand l 01d 
lestament from a Christian viewpoint, and creates a desire to preach 
(Schleswig-Holsteiner Kirchen- und Schulblatt).-One thing in the boot 
Pleases me excellently: the direct, concentrated, penetration nto he 
Whflet 1 r m f trUthS ° f th6Se difficult 01d Testament passages 

Icu sir The ? e rr ific ^ s for exegesis - * ° mits ^^ 

discussions. The book has edifying qualities (Leipziger Zeitung) - 

chen).-Th s book compares favoraWy with the bes? ihlr w g K r_Muen - 
duced in its line (Luth. Kirchenolatt— pla^^U ™, at ha . s . been P ro " 



Wartburg Lesson Helps for Lutheran Sunday Schools. Chicago 
Wartburg Publishing House. 1914. English edition edited 
by E. H. Rausch in collaboration with H. Mueller, H. 
Brueckner and C. Prottengeier. 

KtrtlVT r A t0 ?^ \ nd COntents ' the Wartburg Lesson Helps leave 

f ^ these booths / r- Zi0nSb0te ' ^^ ^^-^ P^cadon 

of these books is of great importance to Lutheran Sunday Schools He 
who ts looking for better material for his Sunday School should order 
samples of these "Helps" and seriously consider them (Gemeindeblatt der 
Wisconsin Synode).-An undertaking of great magnitude. After hav^ 
read the questions which represent carefully prepared catenations one 
will understand why we are filled with enthusiasm for these "Lesson 
Helps and why we hope . that they will be used extensively (Der 
Deutsche Lutheraner, General Konzil).-It is marvelous how carefully the 

how f "Z ,7 \l S - h T P , rePared ' h ° W Cl6arly h haS been Panned and 
how faithfully this plan has been carried out. In all literature of this 
nature, there is nothing that can be compared with these "Lesson Helps." 
Where such helps are used in the manner prescribed both tearW *r,A 



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